The history of Louisiana, or of the western parts of Virginia and Carolina: : containing a description of the countries that lye on both sides of the river Mississipi: with an account of the settlements, inhabitants, soil, climate, and products.

artgaitines Nem tE SRS NHANES ENR TREE ORM, I sa

+

HISTORY

OF

LOUISIANA.

Wo Gok Uhm = i.

ane
a

: THE

Wir S TOR
© & OF ice
LOUISIANA

OR OF

The WesTERN Parrs
OF

VIRGINIAand CAROLINA:

4

CONTAINING
A Defcription of the Countries that lye.
on both Sides of the River Mifiipi :
WITH
An Account of the Settlements, Inhabitants,,
Lee Soil, Climate, and Produéts,

‘Tranflated from the Frencny

| (lately publifhed, )

By M. Lz PAGE Du PRATZ;
| WITH | .

Some Notes and OBSERVATIONS ae
. h ;
| relating to our CoLonNiEs, a

In Two VoLuMEs..
VEO: Lise TE
LONDON,

_ Printed for T. Becker and P. A. Dr Honpt
| in the Strand. mpccLxrIn,
4.

CONTENTS

Oren He

SECOND VOLUME.

BRO Os ky it
TF HE Natural Hiftory of Louifiana

Page 1

CHAP. IL. Of Corn and Pulfe ib.

CHAP. Il. Of the Fruit Trees of Loui- 4
fiana | 2 “4

tS)

CHAP. UI. Of Fore? Trees 239

CHAP. IV. Of Sets arte Excrefcences 33

Vou. IL, A CHAR,

ROTI) Setar ko)

CHAP. V. Of Creeping Plants 38
CHAP. VI. Of the Quadrupedes 48
CHAP. VIL. Of Birds and flying Infos 75

CHAP. VIL. Of Fifbes and Shell-Fifh 102

ByOHO RK Ty,
() F the Natives of Louifiana 109

CHAP. I. The Origin of the Americans ib.

CHAP. Il. An account of the feveral na-
tions of Louifiana 131

Sic tT, ft. Ga the nations inhabiting on the
eafi of the Miffifipi iis

Secr. I, Of the nations inhabiting on the
weft of the Milfifips Led

CHAP.

CROTNET TI EU NICTOS

CHAP. II A defcriftion of the natives of
Louifiana; of their manners and cuftoms,
particularly thofe of the Natches: Of their .
language, their religion, ceremonies, Rulers
or Suns, feafis, marriages, &c. 160

Sect. I. A defcription of the natives; the .
diferent employments of the two fexes, and
their manner of bringing up their children ib,

Sect. Il Of the language, government,
religion, ceremonies, and feajis of the na-
tives 170

Secr. Ill. Of their marriages, and diftinc-
tion of ranks 197

SecrT. IV. Of the temples, tombs, burials,
and other religious ceremonies of the people of
Louifiana 207

Sect. V. Of the arts and manufaftures of
the natives 222

Sect. VI. Of the attire and diverfions of
the natives: Of their meals and faftings 230

Seer. VIE. Of the Indian art of war 242
CHAP,

CO NTO EDN TOS,

CHAP, IV. Of the negroes of Louifiana
253
Se cT. I. Of the choice of negroes; of their

diftempers, and the manner of curing them
ib.

Sect. Il, Of the manner of governing the
negroes 2,60

ERRATUM:

?

P. 102, fr CHAP, VII, read CHAP. VIII.

eke ee ree

ry

LOUISIANA.

BOO K Me
The Natural Hiftory of Lovtstana.

OEM AGR if
Of Corn aud Pulfe.

AVING, in the former part of this
work, given an account of tle na-
Me ture of the foil in Lowifiana, and ob-
- fesvert that fome places were proper for one kind
of plants, and fome for another; and that al-

moft the whole country was capable of pro-
Vou. Mf, B

ducing;

2 TH ROL Sar Oo Ree

ducing, and bringing to the utmoft maturity,
all kinds of grain, I fhall now prefent the in-
duftrious planter with an account of the trees and
lants which may be cultivated to advantage
in thofe lands. with which he is now made ac-

quainted .

During my abode in that country, where I

* myfelf have a grant of lands, and where I lived
fixteen years, I have had leifure to ftudy this
fabject, and have made fuch progrefs in it, that I
have fent to the We/t- India Company in France no
jefs than three hundred medicinal plants, found
in their pofleffions, and worthy of the attention
of the public. The reader may depend upon
my being faithful and exact; he muft not how-
ever here expe a defcription of every thing
that Louifiana produces of the vegetable kind,
Its prodigious fertility makes it impracticable
for me to undertake fo extenfive awork. I
{hall chiefly defcribe thofe plants and fruits that
are moft ufeful to the inhabitants, either in re-
gard to their own fubfiftence or prefervation,
or in regard to their foreign commerce ; and I

~ fhall add the manner of cultivating and ma-
naging the plants that are of greateft advantage

to the colony,
— Louifana

)

PF olg~OHU SHANA 2

Louifiana produces feveral kinds of maiz,
namely flour-maiz, which is white, witha flat,

and fhrivelled furface, and is the fofteft of all

the kinds; homeny corn, which is round, hard,
and fhining ;-of this there are four forts,’ the
white, the yellow, the red, and the blue: the
maiz of thefe two laft colours is more common
in the high lands than in the Lower Louifiana.
We have befides fmall corn or {mall maiz, fo
called becanfe it is fmaller than the other kinds.

_ New fettlers fow. this corn upon their firft ar-

rival, in order to have whereon to fubfit as foon
as poflible ; for it rifes very faft, and ripens in
fo fhort a time, that from the fame field they
may have two crops of it in one year. Refides
this, it has the advantage of being more agree-
able to the tafte than the large kind,

Maiz, whichin France is called Turkey Corn,
-(and.in Zagland Indian Gorn) is the natural pro-
duct of this country; for upon our arrival we
found it cultivated by the natives. It grows
apona ftalk fix;feven, and eight feet high ;. the
ear is large, and about two inches diameter,
containing fometimes, feven hundred grains and
upwards; and each ftalk bears fometimes fix
or feven ears, according to the goodnefs of the
ground, The black and light foil is that which
B 2 agrees

a fm bOR VSR oO RY
agrees beft with it; but ftrong ground is not
fo favourable to it.

“This corn, it is well known, is very whole-
fome, both for man and other animals, efpe-
cially for poultry. The natives, that they may
have change of difhes, drefs it in various ways.
The beft is to make it into what is called parch-
ed meat, (farine froide). As there is nobody
who does not eat of this with pleafure, even
tho’ not very hungry, I will give the manner of
preparing it, that our provinces of France,
which reap this grain, may draw the fame ad-

vantage from it.

The corn is firft parboiled in water; then
drained and well dried. When it is perfectly dry,
itis then roafted ina plate made for that purpofe,
afhes being mixed with it to hinder it from burn-
;ng; and they keep continually ftirring it, that it
may take only the red colour which they want.
When it has taken that colour, they remove
the afhes, rub it well, and then put it in a |
mortar with the afhes of dried ftalks of kidney
beans, and a little water; they then beat it
gently, which quickly breaks the hufk, and
turns the whole into meal. This meal, after

being pounded, is dried in the fun, and after
this

OF LOUISIANA. 5

this laft operation it may be carried any where,
‘and will keep fix months, if care be taken from
time to time io expofe it tothe fun. When
they want to eat of it, they mix in a veffel two
thirds water with one third meal, and ina few
minutes the mixture {wells greatly in bulk, and
is fit to eat. It is a very nourifhing food, and
is anexcellent provifion for travellers, and thofe
who go to any diflance to trade.

This parched meal mixed with milk and a
little fugar may be ferved up at the beft tables.
When mixed with milk-chocolate it makes a

very lafting nourifhment. From maiz they
make a ftrong and agreeable beer; and they

likewife diftil brandy from ic.

Wheat, rye, barley, and oats grow extreme-
ly well in Louifiana; but I muft add one pre-
caution in regard to wheat; when it is fown by
itfelf, as in France, it grows at firft wonderfully ;
but when it isin flower, a great number of
drops of red water may be obferved at the bot-
tom of the ftalk within fix inches of the ground,
which are colle¢ted there during the night, and
difappear at fun-rifing. This water is of fuch
an-acrid nature that in a fhort time it confumes
the flalk, and the ear falls before the grain is

B 3 formed,

SSS Se re ee

SS oF?

6 Met, er Dee Oye

formed. To prevent this misfortune, which is
owing to the too great richnefs of the foil, the
method [ have taken, and which has fucceeded
extremely well, is to mix with the wheat you
intend to fow, fome rye and dry mould, in fuch
a proportion that the mould fhall be equal to
the rye and wheat together. “Fhis method f
remember to have feen prattifed in France; and
when I afked the reafon of it, the farmer told
me that as the land was new, and had lately
been a wood, it contained an acid that was pre-
judicial to the wheat; and that asthe rye ab-
forbed that acid without being hurt, it thereby
preferved the ather grain. I have feen harley
and oats in that country three feet high.

-

'The rice which is cultivated in that country:
was brought from Carolina. It fucceeds fur-

prizingly well, and experience has there prov-
ed, contrary to the common notion, that it
does not want to have its foot always in the
water. It has been fown in the flat country
without being flooded, and the grain that was
reaped was full grown, and of a very delicate
tafte. The fine relifh need not furprife us; for
it is fo with all plants and fruits that grow
without being watered, and ata diftance from
watry places. ‘Two crops may be reaped from

the

rs LG@ut SLA NA. 4
the fame plant; but the fecond is poor if it be
not flooded. I know not whether they have
attempted, fince I left Lewifiana, to low it Upor
the fides of hills.

The firft fettlers found in the country French
beans of various colours, particularly red and
black, and they have been called beans of forty
days, becaufe they require no longer time to’
grow and to be fit to eat green. The dpalacheaw
beans are fo called becaufe we received them
froma nation of the natives of thatname. They
probably had them from the Engli/b of Caro~
lina, whither they had been brought from
Guiney. Their ftalks {pread upon the ground
to the length of four or five feet. They are like
the other beans, but much finaller,. and of a
brown colour, having a black ring round the
eye, by which they are joined tothe thell. Thefle
beans boil tender, and havea tolerable relifh,
but they are fweetifh, and fomewhat infipid.

The potatoes are roots more commonly long
than thick; their form is various, and their fine
fkin is like that of the Tofinambous ( Irifo po-
tatoes)). In their fubftance and tafte they yery
much refemble fweet chefnuts. They are cul-
tivated in the following manner; the earth. is
1S sp Dans, raifed:

§ THE HISTORY

raifed in little hills or high furrows about a
foot and a half broad, that by draining the
moifture, the roots may have a better -relith.
The {mall potatoes being cut in little pieces
with an eye in each, four or five of thofe pieces
are planted on the head of the hills. In a fhort

time they pufh out fhoots, and thefe thoots be-’

ing cut off about the middle of Augufé within
feven or eight inches of the ground, are planted
double, crofs-ways, in the crown of other hills,
The roots of thefe laft are the moft efteemed,

not only on account of their fine relifh, but be-

caufe they are eafier kept during the winter.
{n order to preferve them during that feafon,

they dry them in the fun as foon as they are.

dug up, and then lay them up ina clofe and
ary place, covering them firft with athes, over
which they lay dry mould. They boil them,
or bake them, or roaft them on hot coals like

chefnuts; but they have the fineft relith when

baked or roafted. They are eat dry, or cut into
{mall flices in milk without fugar, for they are
{weet of themfelves. Good fweetmeats are alfo
made of them, and fome Frenchmen have drawn
brandy from them.

The Cu/baws are’ kind of pompion.. There
are two forts of them, the one round, and the
A: other

rq

OF LOUISIANA. 9

other in the fhape of a hunting horn, Thefe
laft are the beft, being of a more firm fubftance,

which makes them keep much better than the.

others; their fweetnefs is not fo infipid, and
they have fewer feeds. They make {weet-
meats of thefe laft, and ufe both kinds in foup;
they make fritters of them, fry them, bake them,
and roaft them on the coals, and in all ways
of cooking they are good and palatable.

All kinds of melons grow admirably well in
Louifiana.. Thole of Spain, of France, of Eng-
land, which laft are called white melons, are
there infinitely finer than in the countries from
whence they have their name; but the beft of
all are the water melons. As they are hardly
known in France, except in Provence, where a
few of the {mall kind grow, I fancy a defcrip-
tion of them will not be difagreeable to the
reader.

_. The flalk of this melon fpreads like ours upon

the ground, and extends to the length of ten

feet. It is fo tender, that when itis any way

bruifed by treading upon it the fruit dies; and

if it is rubbed in the leaftit grows warm The
leaves are very much indented, as broad as the
hand when they are fpread out, and are fome-
| Bs ~ what

dj

ra meg

Se

10 TE BOL Se Oe

what of a fea-green colour. The fruit is either
round like a pompion, or long. There are fome
good melons of this laft kind, but the firft fort
are the moft cfteemed, and defervedly fo. The
weight of the largeft rarely exceeds thirty pounds,
but that of the fmalleft is always above ten:
pounds. Their rind is of a pale green colour,
interfperfed with large white fpots. The fub-
ftance that adheres to the rind is white, crude,
and of a difagreeable tartnefs, and is therefore
never. eaten. Lhe fpace within that is filled
with a light and fparkling fubfance, that may.
be called for its properties a rofe-coloured fnow..
It melts in the mouth as if it were actually
fnow, and leaves a relifh like that of the water
prepared for fick people from gooleberry jelly.
This fruit cannot fail therefore of being very
refrefhing, and is fo wholefome, that perions in
all kinds of diftempers may fatisfy their appetite
with it, without any apprehenfion of being the
worfe for it. The water-melons of 4frica are
not near fo relifhing as thofe of Louifiana.

The feeds of water-melons are placed like
thofe of the French melons. Their fhape is
oval and flat, being as thick at the ends as to-
wards the middle; their length is about fix
lines, and their breadth four, Some are black

and

OF LOUISTANA. iI

it is thofe you ought to chufe for fowing, if you
would with to have good fruit; which you can-
not fail of, if they are not planted in ftrong’
ground where they would degenerate and be-
come red.

All kinds “of greens and roots which have
been brought from Europe into that colony fuc>

be planted in a foil fuited to them ; for it is

bulbous plants fhould thrive there in a foft and
watry foil, when every where elfe they require:
a-dry and. light earth.

and others red ; but the black are the beft, and -

ceed better there than in France, provided they’

certainly abfurd to think that onions and other™

EyH-E .) Bel SeTc Or RAY.

CudisAeP.
Of the Fruit Trees of Louifiana,

SHALL now proceed to give an account of

the fruit trees of this colony, and fhall be-
gin with the Vine, which is fo common in Loui-
frana, that whatever way you walk, from the
fea coaft, for 500 leagues northwards, you can-
not proceed an hundred fteps without meeting
with one; but unlefs the vine-fhoots fhould
happen to grow in an expofed place, it cannot
‘be expected that their fruit fhould ever come to
‘perfect maturity. The trees to which they
twine are fo high, and fo thick of leaves, and
the intervals of underwood are fo filled with
reeds, that the fun cannot warm the earth or
ripen the fruit of this fhrub. I will not under-
take to defcribe all the kinds of grapes which
this country produces; it is even impoffible to
know them all; I fhall only fpeak of three

or four.

The firft fort that I fhall mention does not
perhaps deferve the name of a grape, altho’ its
wood and its leaf greatly refemble the vine.
This fhrub bears no bunches, and you hardly
ever fee upon it above two grapes together.
5 The

/

GPADGAUESTAN A. 9%

‘The grape in fubftance and colour is very like a
violet damafk plum, and its ftone, which is
always fingle, greatly refembles anut. Tho’
not very relifhing, it has not however that dif-
agreeable fharpnefs of the grape that grows in
the neighbourhood of New Orleans.

On the edge of the favannahs or meadows
we meet with a grape, the thoots of which re-
femble thofe of the Burgundy grape. They
make from this a tolerable good wine, if they
take care to expofe it to the fun in fummer, and
to the cold in winter. I have made this expe-
riment myfelf, and muft fay that I never could
turn it into vinegar.

‘There is another kind of grape which I make
no difficulty of claffing with the grapes of Co-
rinth, commonly called currants. It refembles
them in the wood, the leaf, the tree, the fize,
and the fweetnefs. Its tartnefs is owing to its
being prevented from ripening by the thick
fhade of the large trees to which it twines. If
it were planted and cultivated inan open field, I
make not the leaft doubt but it would equal
the grape of Corinth, with which I clafs it.

Mutcadine

m THE HISTOR

Moufcadine grapes, of an amber colour, of a

very good kind, and very fweet, have been found
upon declivities of a geod expofure, even fo
far north as the latitude of 31 degrees. There
is the greateft probability that they might make
excellent wine of thefe, as it cannot be doubted:
but the grapes might be brought to great per-
feCtion-in this country, fince in the moift foil
of New Orleans, the cuttings of the grape which
fome of the inhabitants of that city brought
from France, have fueceeded extremely well and
afforded good wine.

As a proof of the fertility of Lowfiana, 1

eannot forbear mentioning the following fact ;

an inhabitant of New Orleans having planted in’

his garden a few twigs of this Mufcadine vine,

with the view of making an arbour of them,,.
one of his fons with another negro boy entered:
the garden in the month of Zune, when the

grapes are ripe, and broke off all the bunches
they could find. The father, after feverely

chiding the two boys, pruned the twigs that’
had been broken and bruifed; and as feveral
months of fummer ftill remained, the vine pufh-
ed out new fhoots, and new bunches, which:

ripened and were as good.as the former.

The

OF LOUISIANA. rg

The Perfimmon, which the French of the co-
lony call Placminier, very much refembles our
medlar tree-in its leaf and wood: Its flower,
which is about an inch and a half broad, is
white, and is compofed of five petals ; its fruit
is about the. fize of a large hen’s egg; it is
fhaped like our medlar, but its fubftance ig
fweeter, and more delicate. This fruit is aftrin-
gent ; when it is quite ripe the natives make
bread of it, which they keep from year to year;
and the bread has this remarkable property that
it will ftop the moft violent loofenefs or dyfen--
tery; therefore it ought to be ufed with cau-
tion, and only after phyfic. The natives, in
order to make this bread, {queeze the fruit over
fine fieves to feparate the pulp from the fkin and
the kernels. Of this pulp, which is like pafte or
thick pap, they make cakes about a foot and a,
half long, afoot broad, and a finger’s breadth.
in thicknefs: Thefe they dry in an oven; upon
sridirons, or elfe in thefun; which laft method
of drying gives a greater relifh to the bread.
This is one of their articles of traffic with the
French. :

Their plum-trees are of two forts: The beft
is that which bears violet-coloured plums, quite

like ours, which are not difagreeable, and
which

16" POIBY EMTISIIO UR y

which certainly would be good if they did not
grow in the middle of the woods. The other
kind bears plums of the colour of an unripe
cherry, and thefe are fo tart that no body can
eat them; but I amof opinion they might be
preferved like goofeberries, efpecially if pains
were taken to cultivate them in open grounds:
The fmall cherries, called the Indian cherry,
are frequent in this country. Their wood is
very beautiful, and their leaves differ in nothing

from thofe of the cherry tree.

sed he Papaws are only to be found far up in
Higher Louifiana. Thefe trees, it would feem,

do notlove heat; they do not grow fo tall as-

the plum trees; their wood is very hard and
flexible; for the lower branches are fometimes
fo loaded with fruit that they hang perpendi-
eularly downwards; and if you unload them
of their fruit in the evening, you will find them
next morning in their natural ere€&t pofition.

The fruit refembles a middle fized cucumber ;_

the pulp is very agreeable and very wholefome;
but the rind, which is eafily {tripped off, leaves
on the fingers fo fharp an acid, that if you touch
your eye with them before you wath them, it

will be immediately inflamed, and itch moft in-_

fupportably for twenty-four hours after.

The

?

OF LOUISIANA

The natives had doubtlefs got the peach trees
and fig trees from the Engli/b colony of Cars-
lina, before the French eftablifhed themfelves in
Louifiana. The peaches are of the kind which
we call alberges; are of the fize of the fift, ad-
here to the ftone, and contain fo much water -
that they make a kind of wine of it. The figs
are either blue or white; are large and well
enough tafted. Our colonifts plant the peach
{tones about the end of February, and fuffer the
trees to grow expofed to all weathers. In the
third year they will gather from one tree at leaft
two hundred peaches, and double that number
for fix or feven years more, when the tree dies
irrecoverably. As new trees are fo cafily pro-
duced, the lofs of the old ones is not in the
leaft regretted. |

The orange trees and citron trees that were
brought from Cafe Frangois have fucceeded ex-
tremely well; however I-have feen fo fevere a
winter that thofe kinds of trees were entirely:
frozen to the very trunk. In that cafe they cut
the trees down to the ground, and the follow-
ing fummer they produced fhoots that were
- better than the former. If thefe trees have fuc-
ceeded in the flat and moift foil of Mew Orleans,
what may we not expect when they are planted

| in

1s PHE HIS Farry
in better foil, and upon declivities of a good
expolure. The oranges and citrons are as good
as thofe of other countries; but. the rind of
the orange in particular is very thick, which
makes it the better for a fweet-meat.

There is plenty of wild apples in Lousiana,
like thofe in Europe; and the inhabitants have
got many kind of fruit trees from France, fuch
as apples, pears, plums, cherries, &c. which
im the low grounds run more into wood than
fruit; the fewI had at the Watches, proved that
high ground is much more fuited to them than:
the low.

The blue whortle berry is a fhrub fomewhat
taller than our largeft goofeberry buthes, which.
are left to grow as they pleafe. Its berries are
of the fhape of a goofeberry, grow fingle, and
are of a blue colour: they tafte like a fweetifh
goofeberry, and when infufed in brandy it
makes a good dram. They attribute feveral
virtues to it, which, as 1 never experienced, I
eannot anfwer for. It loves a poor gravelly
foil.

Louifiana produces no black mulberries: but:

fcom. the fea to the Arkanfas, which is an ex-
tent

y

OTreroursysr AN A. ra)
tent of navigation upon the river of 200 leagues,
we meet very frequently with three kinds of
mulberries ; one a bright red, another perfeCtly
white, and a third white and fweetifh. The
firft of thefe kinds is very common, but the
two laft are morerare. Of the red mulberries
they make excellent vinegar, which keeps a -
long time, provided they take care in the mak-
ing of it to keep it in the fhade in a veflel
well flopped, contrary to the practice in
France. They make vinegar alfo of bramble
berries, but this is not fo good as the former.
E donot doubt but. the colonifts at prefent ap~
ply themfelves ferioufly to the cultivation of
mulberries, to. feed filk-worms, efpecially as
the countries adjoining to France, and which
fupplied us with filk, have now made the ex-
portation of it difficult.

The olive-trees in this colony are furprifing-
ly beautiful. The trunk is fometimes a foot
and an half diameter, and thirty feet high be-
fore it fpreads out into branches. ‘The Pro-
vencals fettled in the colony affirm, ‘that its.
olives would afford as good an oil as thofe of
their country. Some of the olives that were
prepared to be eat green were as good as thofe
of Provence. Ihave reafon to think, that if

they:

20 THE HISTORY

they were planted on the coafts, the olives
would have a finer relish.

They have great numbers and a variety of
kinds of walnut-trees in this country. There
is a very large kind, the wood of which is almoft
as black as ebony, but very porous. The
fruit, with the outer fhell, is of the fize of a
large hen’s egg: the fhell has no cleft, is very
rough, and fo hard as to require a hammer to
break it. Tho’ the fruit be very relifhing,
yet it is covered with fuch a thick film, thaz

few can beftow the pains of feparating the one ©

from the other. The natives make bread of
it, by throwing the frnit into water, and rub-
bing it till the film and oil be feparated from
it. If thofe trees were engrafted with the
French walnut, their fruit would probably be
improved,

Other walnut-trees have a very white and
flexible wood. Of this wood the natives make
their crooked {pades for houghing their fields,
The nut is fmaller than ours, and the fhell
more tender; but the fruit is fo bitter that none
but perroquets can put up with it.

in The

OF LOUISIANA. a1

The Hicori bears a very fmall kind of nut,
which at firft fight one would take for filberts,
| as they have the fame thape and colour, and
| their fhell is as tender, but within they are
formed like walnuts. They have fuch an ex-
cellent relifh, that the French make fried cakes
of them as good as thofe of almonds.

_ Louifiana produces but a few filberts, as the

_ filbert requires a poor gravelly foil, which is

mot to be met with in this province, except in

the neighbourhood of the fea, efpecially near
the river Mobile.

The large chefnuts are not to be met with but
at the diftance of 100 leagues from the fea, and
far from rivers in the heart of the woods, be-
tween the country of the Chaétaws and that of
the Chicafaws. The common chefnuts fucceed
beft upon high declivities, and their fruit is
like the chefnuts that grow in our woods.
| There is another kind of chefnuts, which are
called the acorn chefnuts, as they are fhaped
like an acorn, and grow in fucha cup. But
| they have the colour and tafte of a chefnut;
and I have often thought, that thofe were the
acorns which the firft of men were faid to. have
lived upon,

The

22 IAP). SETEL ES oy OD) Rug

The Sweet-Gum, or Liquid- Ambar (Copan)
is not only extremely common, but it affords a
balm, the virtues of which are infaite. . Its
bark is black and hard, and its wood fo tender
and fupple, that when the tree is felled you
may draw from the middle of it.rods of five or
fix feet in length. It cannot be employed in
building or furniture, as it warps continually ;
nor is it fit for burning on account of its flrong —
{mell; but a little of it in a fire yields an |
agreeable perfume. Its leaf is indented with
five points like a flar.

I RS eo eS OR nT NR a

T fhall not undertake to particularize all the
wirtues of this Sweet-Gum or Liquid- Ambar, not
having learned all of them from ihe natives of
the country, who would be no lefs furprifed to
find that we ufed it only asa varnith, than
they were to fee our furgeons bleed their pa- |
tients. ‘This balm, according to them, is an —
excellent febrifuge ; they take ten or a dozen
“drops of. it-in gruel fafting, and before their
meals ; and.if they fhould take a little more, |
they have no reafon to apprehend any danger. q

_ The phyficians among the natives purge their |
patients before they give it them. It cures |
wounds in two days without any bad confe- |
quences : it is equally fovereign for all kinds of |

2 ulcers,

BY
sg

%

OF LOUISIANA. 23

ulcers, after having applied to them for fome
days a plafter of bruifed ground-ivy. It cures
-confumptions, opens obftructions; it affords
relief in the cholic and all internal ‘dileaicue it
comforts the heart; in fhort, it contains fo ma-
ny virtues, that they are every day difcovering
fome new property that it has. :

Ltd) vee, ok.
Of Foreft Trees.

FAVING defcribed the moft remarkable _

~of their fruit trees, I thall now proceed
to give an account of their foreft trees.. White
and red cedars are very common upon the coaik.
The incorruptibility of the wood, and many
other excellent properties which are well known,
induced the firft French fettlers to build their
houfes of it; which were but very low.

Next to the cedar the cyprefs tree is the
moft valuable wood. Some reckon it incor-
ruptible; and if it be not, it is at jeaft a great
many years in rotting. The tree that was
found twenty feet deep in the earth near
New Orleans was a cyprefs, and was uncor-
rupted,

4 THELHIS TORY

rupted. Now if the lands of Lower Louifiana ©
are augmented two leagues every century, this
tree muft have been buried at leaft twelve cen-
turies. The cyprefs grows very firaight and
tall, with a proportionable thicknefs. They
commonly make their Pettyaugres of a fingle
trunk of this tree, which will carry three or
four thoufand weight, and fometimes more. Of
one of thofe trees a carpenter offered to make
two pettyaugres, one of which carried fixteen
ton, andthe other fourteen. There isacyprefs

AIO lS et ct RMR PPB LAL AME ae cat Sead
dehy wi F

+ age

“tithe canine me oe .
ek teteere reermatt meer tee re te J , ~~ * we

ee) eee
tos Aenea

at Baton Rouge, a French fettlement twenty-
fix leagues above New Orleans, which mea-
fures twelve yards round, and is of a prodi-
gious height. The cyprefs has few branches,
and its leaf is long and narrow, The trunk
tlofe by the ground fometimes fends off two
or three ftems, which enter the earth oblique-
ly, and ferve for buttrefles to the tree. Its
wood is of a beautiful colour, fomewhat red-
dith ; it is foft, light, and fmooth; its grain is
ftraight, and its pores very clofe. It is eafily
fplit by wedges, and tho” ufed green it never
warps. It renews itfelf in a very extraordina-
ry manner: a fhort time after it is cut down,
a fhoot is obferved to grow from one of its ;
roots exattly in the form of a fugar-loaf, and —
this fometimes rifes ten feet high before any
leaf 4

Saal eape
mene

i

erg et

q

OF LOUISIANA. 25

_Teaf appears: the branches at length arife from
the head of this conical fhoot *,

The Cypreffes were formerly very common in
/Louifiana ; but they have wafted them fo im-
prudently, that they are now fomewhat rare.
They felled them for the fake of their bark,
with which they covered their houfes, and they
fawed the wood into planks which they ex-
ported to different places. The price of the

wood now is three times as much as it was for-
_merily.

The Pine-tree, which loves a barren foil, is
to be found in great abundance on the fea-
coafts, where it grows very high and very beau-
(ful. The iflands upon the coaft, which are
formed wholly of fhining fand, bear no other
tees, and I am perfuaded that as fine mats

might be made of them as of the firs of
Sweden,

All the fouth parts of Louifana abound with
the Wild Laurel, which grows in the woods
without any cultivation: the fame may be faid
of the ftone laurel; but if a perfon is not upon
his guard he may take for the laurel a tree na-

* This is a miftake, according to Gharlevoin

Vou. I. Cc tural

6 TAD USO ©

tural to the country, which would communi-
cate its bad {mell to every thing it is applied to.
Among the laurels the preference ought to be
given to the tulip-laurel (magnolia) which is
not known in Europe. This tree is of the
height and bulk of one of our common walnut
trees. Its head is naturally very round, and
fo thick of leaves that neither the fun nor rain
can penetrate it. Its leaves are full four inches
long, near three inches broad, and very thick,
of a beautiful fea-green on the upper-fide, and
refembling white velvet on the under-fide : its
bark is f{mooth and of a grey colour ; its wood
is white, foft, and flexible, and the grain inter-
woven. It owes its name to the form of its
great white flowers, which are at leaft two
snches broad. Thefe appearing in the {pring
amid{t the glofly verdure of the leaves, have a
moft beautiful effect. As the top is naturally
round, and the leaves are ever-green, avenues
of this tree would doubtlefs be worthy of a
royal garden. After it has fhed its leaves, its
fruit appears in the form of a pine apple, and
upon the firft approach of the cold its grain
‘turns into a lively red. Its kernel is very bitter,
and ’tis faid to be a {pecific againft fevers.

The

OF LOUITSIAN A. 27

The Saffafras, the name of which is familiar
to botanifts on account of its medicinal quali-
ties, is a large and tall tree. Its bark is thick,
and cracked here and there; its wood is fome-
what of the colour of cinamon, and has an
agreeable finell. It will not burn in the fire
without the mixture of other wood, and even
in the fire, if it fhould be feparated from the
flaming wood, it is immediately extinguithed, as

if it were dipped in water.

The Maple grows upon declivities in cold
climates, and is much more plentiful in the
northern than fouthern parts of the colony. By
boring it they draw from it a fweet fyrup which

I have drunk of, and which they ated ge is an
excellent ftomachic.

The Myrtle Wax-tree is one of the greateft
| bleflings with which nature has enriched Louifia-
na, as in this country the bees lodge their ho-
ney in the earth to fave it from the ravages of
the bears, who are very fond of it, and don’t
_ value their ftings. One would be apt to take
it, at firft fight, both from its bark and its
height, for that kind of laurel ufed in the kit-
chens. It rifes in feveral ftems from the root ;
its leaf is like that of the laurel, but not fo
C2 | thick

SRE EER a Hs

i. ee ee

28 THE HISTORY

thick nor of fuch a lively green. It bears its

fruit in bunches like a nofegay, rifing from the

fame place in various ftalks about two inches

long: at the end of each of thofe flalks is a

little pea, containing a kernel in a nut, which

laft is wholly covered with wax. The fruit,

which is very plentiful, is eafily gathered, as the

fhrub is very flexible. The tree thrives as well
in the fhade of other trees as in the open air, 1n_
watry places and cold countries, as well as in

dry grounds and hot climates; for I have been
told that fome of them have been found in Ca-
nada, a country as cold as Denmark.

This tree yields two kinds of wax, one a
whitifh yellow, and the other green, It wasa
long time before they learned to feparate them,
and they prepared the wax at firft in the follow-
ing manner.
{talks into a large kettle of boiling water, and
when the wax was detached from them, they

{cummed off the grains. When the water cooled

the wax floated in a cake at the top, and being
cut fmall, bleached ina fhorter time than bees
wax. They now prepare it in this manner ;
they throw boiling water upon the ftalks and
grains till they are entirely floated, and when

they have ftood thusa few minutes, they pour
of

They threw the grains and the —

F
g

pt

OF LOUISIANA. 29
off the water, which carries the fineft wax with
it. This wax when cold is of a pale yellow
colour, and may be bleached in fix or feven
days. Having feparated the beft wax, they
pour the water again upon the ftalks and grains,
and boil all together till they think they have fe-
parated all the wax. Both kinds are exported
to our fugar iflands, where the firft is fold for ~
ico fols the pound, and the fecond for 4o.

This wax is fo brittle and dry that if it falls:
it breaks into feveral pieces; on this account
however it lafts longer than that of France, and
is preferred to it in our fugar iflands, where
the latter is foftened by the great heats, and

confumes like tallow. I would advife thofe
who prepare this wax to feparate the grain from
the fhort ftalk before they boil it, as the ftalk
is greener than the grain, and feems to part
eafily with its colour, The water which ferves
to melt and feparate the wax is far from being
ufelefs, The fruit communicates to it fuch an
aftringent virtue, as to harden the tallow that
is melted in it to fuch a degree, that the can-
dles made of that tallow are as firm.as the wax
candles of France. This aftringent quality
likewife renders it an admirable fpecific againft
a dyfentery or loofenefs, From what I have

ake faid

30 THE HISTORY

{aid of the myrtle wax tree, it may well be
believed that the French of Louifiana cultivate it
carefully, and make plantations of it.

The Cotton-tree (a poplar) is a large tree
which no wife deferves the name it bears, un-
lefs for fome beards that it throws out. Its
fruit which contains the grain is about the fize
of a walnut, and of no ufe; its wood is yel-
low, {mooth, fomewhat hard, of a fine grain,
and very proper for cabinet work. The
bark of its root is a fovereign remedy for cuts»
and fo red that it may even ferve to dye that

colour,

The Acacia (Locuft) is the fame in Louif-
ana as in France, much more common, and
lefs ftreight. The natives call it by a name
that fignifies bard wood, and they make their
bows of it becaufe itis very ftiff. They look
upon it as an incorruptible wood, which in-
duced the French fettlers to build their houfes
‘of it. The pofts fixed in the earth muft be
- entirely {tripped of their bark, for notwith-
ftanding their hardnefs, if the leaft bark be
left upon them they will take root.

The Helm-oak grows to a farprifing bulk
and height in this country; I have feen of —
| them

Sp cCoOVIS TAINA 3b

them a foot and a half diameter, and about 30
feet from the ground to the loweft branches.

The Mangrove is very common all over 4-.
merica. It grows in Louifiana near the fea,
even to the bounds of low-water mark. It is
more prejudicial than ufeful, inafmuch as it
occupies a great deal_of good land, prevents
failors from landing, and affords a fhelter to the
fifh from the fifhermen,

Oak-trees abound in Louifiana; there are
fome red, fome white, and fome ever-green.
A fhip-builder of St. Maloes affured me that
the red is as good as the ever-green upon which
we fet fo high a value in France. The ever~
green oak is moft common toward the fea-coalts,
and near the banks of rivers, confequently may
be tranfported with great eafe, and become a
great refource for the navy of France*. 1 for-
got to mention a fourth kind of oak, namely

* Eleven leagues above the mouth of the Miffippi, on
the weft fide, there is- great plenty of ever-green oaks, the
wood of which is very proper for the timbers of fhips, as it
does not rotin water, Dumont, 1. & 50.

Accordingly the bet fhips built in America are well known
to be thofe that have their timbers of ever-green oak, and
their plank of cedar, of both which there are great plenty
on all the coafts of Lowifiana. |

C4 the

2 THE HISTORY

the black oak, fo called from the colour of its
bark. Its wood is very hard, and of a deep
red. It grows upon the declivities of hills and
in the Savannahs. Happening after a fhower
of rain to examine one of thefe which I cut
down, I obferved fome water to come from it
as red as blood, which made me think that it
might be ufed for dying.

The 4/b is very common in this country ;
but more and better upon the fea-coafts than in
the inland parts. As it is eafy to be had, and
is harder than the elm, the wheel-wrights make
ufe of it for wheels, which it is needlefs to ring
with iron ina country where there are neither
{tones nor gravel.

The Eln, Beech, Lime, Hernbeam, are ex-
actly the fame in Louifiana as in France; the
Jaft of thefe trees is very common here. The
bark of the Lime tree of this country is equal-
ly proper for the making of ropes, as the bark
of the common Lime; but its leaf is twice as
large, and fhaped like an oblong Trefoil leaf
with the point cut off.

The white woods are the A/pen, Willow, Ak
der and Liart. This laft grows very large, its
wood

-

OF LOUISIANA. 33

wood is white and light, and its fibres are in-
terwoven ; it is very flexible and is eafily cut,
on which account they make their large Petzy-
augres of it.

SA Pastin:
Of Shrubs and Excrefcences.

HE 4yac or Stinking wood, is ufually a:

{mall tree, feldom exceeding the thick-
nefs of a man’s leg; its leaf is of a yellowifh:
green, gloffy, and of an oval form, being about:
three inches in length. The wood is yellow,.
and yields a water of the fame colour, when
it is cut in thefap: but both the wood and the
water that comes fromit have a: difagreeable-
{mell. The natives ufe the wood for dying ;
they cut it into {mall bits, pound them, and
then boil them in water. Having ftrained this.
water, they dip the feathers and hair into it,.
which it is their cuftom to dye firft. yellow and,
then red. When they intend to ufe it for the
yellow dye, they take care to cut the wood ins
the winter, but if they want only a flight COs
_ tour they never mind the feafon of cutting it..

ake 5 . The:

34 rT te etd Sy oe Ogee

The Machonchi, or Vinegar tree, is a fhrub
with leaves, fomewhat refembling thofe of the
afh ; but the foot-ftalk from which the leaves
hang is much longer. When the leaves are
dry the natives mix them with their tobacco to —
weaken ita little, for they don’t love ftrong
tobacco for {moaking. ‘The wood is of an af-
tringent nature, and if put into vinegar makes
it ftronger.

The Caffine, or Yapon, is a fhrub which ne-
yer grows higher than 15 feet; its bark is very
{mooth, and the wood flexible. Its leaf is very
much indented, and when ufed as tea is reck-
oned good for the ftomach. The natives make
an intoxicating liquor from it, by boiling it
in water till great part of the liquor evapo-

rate.

The Toothach-tree does not grow higher
than 10 or 12 feet. ‘The trunk, which is not
very large, is wholly covered over with fhort

thick prickles, which are eafily rubbed > off.
The pith of this fhrub is almoft as large as
that of the elder, and the form of the leaf is al-
moft the fame in both. It has two barks, the
euter almoft black, and the inner white, with
fomewhat of a pale reddifh hue. ‘This inner

| bark

OF LOUISIANA. ° 35

bark has the property of curing the toothach.
The patient rolls it up to the fize of a bean,
puts it upon the aching tooth, and chews it till
the pain ceafes. Sailors and other fuch people
powder it, and ufe it as pepper.

The Paffion thorn does not rife above the
height of a fhrub; but its trunk 1s rather
thick for its height. This fhrub is in great
efteem among the Natches ; but I never could
learn for what reafon. Its leaf refembles that
of the black thorn; and its wood while it is
green is not very hard. Its prickles are at leaft
two inches long, and are very hard and pierc-
ing ; within half an inch of their root two
other fmall prickles grow out from them fo as
to form a crofs. The whoie trunk is covered
with thefe prickles, fo that you muft be very
wary how you approach it, or cut it.

The Elder tree is exactly like that of France,
only that its leaf is a littlke moreindented. The
juice of its leaves mixed with hog’s lard is a {pe-
cific againft the hemorrhoids. - !

The Palmetto has its leaves in the form of
in open fan, {colloped at the end of each of its

folds. Its bark is more rough and Knotty than
C 6. that

36 THE HISTORY

that of the palm tree. Altho’ itis lefs than that
of the Zaft Indies, it may however ferve to the
fame purpofes. Its wood is not harder than.
that of a cabbage, and its trunk is fo foft that
the leaft wind overturns it, fo that I never faw
any but what were lying along on the ground.
It is very common in Lower Louifiana, where
there are no wild oxen; for thofe animals who
love it dearly, and are greatly fattened by it,
devour it wherever they can find it. ‘The Sfa-
ni/b women make hats of its leaves that do not
weigh an ounce, riding hoods, and other cu-
rious works.

The Birch tree is the fame with that o
France. Inthe north they make canoes of its
bark large enough to hold eight perfons. When
the fap rifes they ftrip off the bark from the
tree in one piece with wedges, .after which they
few up the two ends of it to ferve for {tem and
ftern, and anoint the whole with gum.

make not the leatt doubt but that there are.
great numbers of other trees in the forefts of
Louvifiana that deferve to be particularly de-
{cribed ; but I know of none, nor have I heard
of any, but what I have already fpokea of. For

cur teavellers, from whom alone we can get
any

),

OF LOUISIANA. 37

any intelligence of thofe things, are more in-
tent upon difcovering game which they ftand
in need of for their fubfiftence, than in ob-
ferving the productions of nature in the vege-
table kingdom. ‘To what I have faid of trees,
I fhall only add, from my own knowledge,
an account of two fingular excrefcences.

The firft is a kind of Agaric or Mufbroom,
which grows from the root of the walnut-tree,
efpecially when it is felled.. The natives, who
are very careful in the choice of their food,
gather it with great attention, boil it in water,
and eat it with their gruel. I had the curiofity
to tafte of ir, and found it very delicate, but

rather infipid, which might eafily be corrected
with a little feafoning.

’ The other excrefcence is commonly found
upon trees near the banks of rivers and lakes.
It is called Sfani/b beard, which name was.
given it by the natives, who, when the Sfa-
niards firft appeared in their country about 2.40:
years ago, were greatly furprifed at their muf-
tachios and beards. ‘This excrefcence appears
like a bunch of hair hanging from the large
branches of trees, and might at firft be eafily
miftaken for an old perruque, efpecially when

8. it

ge) ° THE HIST ORY

itis dancing with the wind, As the firft fet-
tlers of Louifiana ufed only mud walls for their
houfes, they commonly mixed it with the mud
for ftrengthening the building. When gather-
ed itis of a grey colour, but when it is dry its
bark falls off; and difcovers black filaments as
Jong and as ftrong as the hairs of a horfe’s tail.
I dreffed fome of it for ftuffing a mattrafs, by
firft laying it up ina heap to make it part with
the bark, and afterwards beating it to take off
fome fmall branches that refemble fo many lit-
tle hooks. It is affirmed by fome to be incor-
ruptible: I myfelf have feen of it under old
_ Kotten trees that was perfectly frefh and ftrong.

SB Be hy advil
Of Creeping Plants.

HE great fertility of Louifiana renders the

| creeping plants extremely common, which,

exclufive of the Ivy, are all different from thofe

which we have in France. 1 hall only mention
the moft remarkable.

The Bearded-creeper is fo called from hav-
ing its whole ftalk covered with a beard about
an

OF LOUISIANA. 39

an inch long, hooked at the end, and fomewhat
thicker than a horfe’s hair. There is no tree
which it loves to cling to fo much as to the
Sweet Gum; and fo great is its fympathy, if I
may be allowed the expreflion, for that tree,
that if it grow between it and any other tree,
it turns folely towards the Sweet Gum, altho’
it thould be at the greateft diftance from it,
This is likewife the tree upon which it thrives
beft. It has the fame virtue with its balm of
being a febrifuge, and this I affirm after a great
number of preofs. The phyficians among the
natives ufe this fimple in the following manner.
They takea piece of it, above the length of the
finger, which they {plit into as many threads
as poffible ; thefe they boil in a quart of water,
‘till one third of the decoétion evaporate, and
the remainder is ftrained clear. They then
purge the patient, and the next day, upon the
approach of the fit, they give a third of the
decoction to drink. If the patient be not cured
with the firft dofe, he is again purged and
drinks another third, which feldom fails of
having the wifhed-for effet. This medicine
is indeed very bitter, but it ftrengthens the
{tomach; a fingular advantage it has over the
Fefuits bark, which is acculed of having a con-
trary effect. fase:
. , There

e
2

40 THE HISTORY

There is another Creeper very like Salfapa-
rilla, only that it bears its leaves by threes. It
bears a fruit {mooth on one fide like a filbert,
and on the other as rough as the little fhells
which ferve for money on the Guiney coaft. I
fhall not {peak of its properties; they are but
too well known by the women of Louifiana,
efpecially the girls, who very often have recourfe
to it. |

Another Creeper is called by the native phy.

ficians the remedy againft poifoned arrows. Tt

is large and very beautiful; its leaves are pret-
ty long, and the pods it bears are narrow, about

_ aninch broad, and eight inches long.

“The Salfaparilla grows naturally in Louifana,
and it is not inferior in its qualities to that of
Mexico. It is fo well known that ’tis needlefs
to enlarge upon it.

The E/quine partly refembles a creeper and
partly a bramble. It is furnifhed with hard
{pikes like prickles, and its oblong leaves are

like thofe of the common Creeper (Liane Pe: its

ftalk is ftraight, long, fhining, and hard, and
it runs up along the reeds: its root is {pungy,
and fometimes as large as one’s head, but more
long

OF GOUISTAINA. “de

long than round. Befides the fudorific virtue
which the E/guine poffeffes in common with the
Salfaparilla, ithas the property of making the
hair grow, and the women among the natives ufe
it fuccesfully with this view. They cut the
root into {mall bits, boil them in water, and
wafh their heads with the decoction. I have
feen feveral of them whofe hair came down be-
low their knees, and one particularly whofe
hair came lower than the ankle bones.

Hops grow naturally in the gullies in the
high lands.

Maiden-hair grows in Louwifiana more beauti-

ful, at leaft as good as that of Canada, which
isin fo great repute. It grows in gullies upon
the fides of hills, in places that are abfolutely
impenetrable to the moft ardent rays of the
fun. It feldom rifes above a foot, and it bears
a thick fhaggy head. The native phyficians:
know more of its virtues than we do in France.

The Canes or Reeds which I have mentioned
fo often may be divided into two kinds. One.
kind grows in moift places to the height of -
eighteen feet, and the thicknefs of the wrift.
The natives make matts, fieves, {mall boxes, and

f other

42 Tne Ha S POR Y
other works of it. Thofe that grow in dry
places are neither fo high nor fo thick, but are
fo hard, that before the arrival of the French,
the natives ufed fplits of thofe canes to cut their
victuals with. After a certain number of years,
the large canes bear a great abundance of grain,

which is fomewhat like oats, but about three

times as large. The natives carefully gather
thefe grains and make bread or gruel of them.
This flour fwells as much as that of wheat.
When the reeds have yielded the grain they die,
and none appear for a long time after in the

fame place, efpecially if fire has been fet to —

the old ones.

The Flat-Root receives itsname from the form
of its root, which is thin, flat, pretty often in-
‘dented, and fometimes even pierced thro’: it is a
line or fometimes two lines in thicknefs, and its
breadth is commonly a foot and a half. From
this large root hang feveral other {mall ftraight
roots, which draw the nourifhment from the
earth. This plant, which grows in meadows
‘that are not very rich, fends up from the fame
root feveral ftraight {talks about eighteen inches
high, which are as hard as wood, and on the
top of the ftalks it bears {mall purplifh flowers,
in their figure greatly refembling thofe of

heath; ,

OF LOUISIANA. 43

heath ; its feed is contained in a deep cup clofed
at the head, and in a manner crowned. Its
leaves are about an inch broad, and about two
long, without any indenting, of a dark green,
inclining to a brown. It is fo {trong a fudori-
fic, that the natives never ufe any other for
promoting fweating, altho’ they are perfectly
acquainted with /afafras, fa Yaparilla, the ef-

guine and others.

The Rattle-fnake-herb has a bulbous root,
like that of the tuberofe, but twice as large.
The leaves of both have the fame fhape and the
fame colour, and en the under fide have fome
flame-coloured fpots; but thofe of the rattle-
{nake plant are twice as large as the others, end in

avery firm point, and are armed with very hard
prickles on both fides. Its flalk grows to the
height of about three feet, and from the head.
rife five or fix f{prigs in different directions,
each of which bears a purple flower an inch
‘broad, with. five leaves in the form of a cup.
After thefe leaves are fhed there remains a head
about the fize of a fmall nut, but fhaped like
the head ofa poppy. This head is feparated
into four divifions, each of which contains four
black feeds, equally thick throughout, and
about the fize of large lentil, When the head

is

Fens MERE A ten Nips LE ea ata hn PS

44 THE HISTORY

is ripe, it will, when fhaken, give the fame found

as the tail of a rattle-{nake, which feems to in-

dicate the property of the plant; for it is the fpe-

cific remedy again{t the bite of that dangerous: |

reptile. The perfon who has been bit ought

‘mediately to take a root, bite off part of it,

chew it for fome time, and apply it to the
wound. In five or fix hours it will extra
the whole poifon, and no bad. confequences
need: be apprehended.

Ground-ivy is faid by the natives to poffefs
many more virtues than are known to our bo-

tanifts. It is faid to eafe women in Jabour’
when drank in a decoétion; to cure ulcers, if.

bruifed and laid upon the ulcered part; to be

a fovereign remedy for the head-ach; a confi-
derable quantity of its leaves bruifed, and laid
asa cataplafm upon the head, quickly removes.
the pain. As this is an inconvenient applica-
tion to a perfon that wears his hair, I thought.
of taking the falts of the plant, and I gave fome
of them in vulnerary water toa friend of mine
who was often attacked with the head-ach, ad-
vifing him likewife to draw up fome drops by
the nofe: he feldom practifed this but he was
relieved a few moments after.

The

OF LOUISIANA. 4r

The Achechy is only to be found in the fhade
ofa wood, and never grows higher than fix
_or feven inches. It has a fmall ftalk, and its
_ leaves are not above three lines long. Its root
_ confifts of a great many fprigs a line in diame-
ter, full of red juice like chickens blood. Hav-
ing tranfplanted this plant from an overfha-
dowed place into my garden, I expected to fee
it greatly improved; but it was not above an
_ inch taller, and its head was only a little bufhier
than ufual. It is with the juice of this plant
that the natives dye their red colour. Having
firft dyed their feathers or hair yellow or a
beautiful citron colour with the ayac woed, they
boil the roots of the achechy in water, then
fqueeze them with all their force, and the ex-
_ prefled liquor ferves for the red dye. That
which was naturally white before it was dyed
yellow, takes a beautiful {carlet; that which
was brown, fuch as buffalos hair, which is of a
che{nut colour, becomes a reddith brown.

I fhall not enlarge upon the ftrawberries,
which are of an excellent flavour, and fo plen-
tiful, that from the beginning of ri! the fa-
_vannahs or meadows appear quite red with
them.’ I fhall alfo only juft mention the tobacco,
which I referve for the article of agriculture ;

| ) but

gat He SAT SRO Ww

but I ought not to omit to take notice, that |
hemp grows naturally on the lands adjoining to
the lakes on the weft of the Mifi/ippi. The ftalks
are as thick as one’s finger, and about fix feet
long. They are quite like ours both in the
wood, the leaf, and the rind. The flax which
was fown in this country rofe three feet high.

I cannot affirm from my own knowledge
that the foil in this province produces ei-
ther white mufhrooms or truffles. But morelles
in their feafon are to be found in the greateft
abundance, and round mufhrooms ia theautumn.

When I confider the mild temperature of this
climate, I am perfuaded that all our flowers
would fucceed extremely well in it. The eoun-
try has flowers peculiar to itfelf, and in fuch
abundance, that from the month of May till the
end of fummer, you can hardly fee the grafs in
the meadows; and of fuch various hues that
one is at a lofs which to admire moft and de-
clare to be the moft beautiful. The number

and diverfity of thofe fowers quite enchant the

fight. Iwill not however attempt to give a par-
ticular account of them, asIam not qualified on
this head to {fatisfy the defires of the curious,

from my having neglected to confider the va-
| 5 rious

\

OF LOUISIANA. 4

rious flowers themfelves. I have feen fingle
and fmall rofes without any {mell ; and another
kind of rofe with four white petals, which in

its fmell, chives, and pointal, differed in nothing

from our damafk rofes. But of all the flowers
of this country that which ftruck me moft, as
itis both very common and lafts a long time, is

/

-the flower called Lion’s Mouth. The flowers

which decorate its ftalk, its fhady colours, its
_ blowing for more than three months, juftly en-
title it to the preference before all other flowers,

It forms of itfelf an agreeable nofe-gay ; and in

my opinion it deferves to be ranked with the
- fineft fowers, and to be cultivated with atten-
_ tion in the gardens of our kings. -

As to cotton and indigo I defer fpeaking of
them till I come to the chapter of agriculture.

THE HISTORY

CELA Ps VE.
Of the Quadrupedes.

EFORE I fpeak of the animals which the
firft fettlers found in Louifiana, it is pro-
. per to obferve, that all thofe which were brought
hither from France, or from New Shain and
Carolina, fuch as horfes, oxen, fheep, goats,
dogs, cats, and others, have multiplied and
thriven perfectly well. However it ought to be
remarked, that in Lower Louifiana, where the
ground is moift and much covered with wood,
they can neither be fo good nor fo beautiful
asin Higher Lowifiana, where the foil is dry,
where there are moft extenfive meadows, and
where the fun warms the earth to a much
greater depree. ;

The Bujals is about the fize of one of our
largeft oxen, but he appears rather bigger, on /
account of his long curled wool, which makes
him appear to the eye much larger than he 4
really is. [his wool is very fine and very thick, _
- _. and is of a dark chefnut colour, as are likewife _
his brifily hairs, which are alfo curled, and {fo b
long, that the bufh between his horns often falls

over fe

OF VOUCLSTAR A. “a

| over his eyes and hinders him from feeing be-
fere him; but his fenfe of hearing and fmelling
is fo exquifite as in fome meafure to fupply the
_ want of the other. A pretty large bunch rifes
on his fhoulders in the place where they join to
the neck. His horns are thick, fhort, and
black; and his hoof is alfo black. The cows of
this {pecies have fmall udders like thofe of a
mare,

This bufalo is the chief food of the natives,
and of the French alfo for a long time paft ; the
befk piece is the bunch on the fhoulders, the
-tafte of which is extremely delicate. They hunt
_this animal ia the winter ; for which purpofe

they leave Lower Louifiana, and the river Mi/-
Sfii, as he cannot penetrate thither on ac-
count of the thicknefs of the woods and be-
fides loves to feed on long grafs, which is only
_ to be found in the meadows of the high lands,
In order to get near enough to fire upon him,
they go againft the wind, and they take aim at
the hollow of the fhoulder, that they nay bring
him to the ground at once, for if he is only
‘Tlightly wounded, he runs againft his enemy.
The natives when hunting feldom chufe to kill
any but the cows, having experienced that the
fiefh of the male fmells rank; but this they

VOL. II, D might

Pe TERE T'S TO RY

might eafily prevent, if they but cut off the
tefticles from the beaft as foon as he is dead, as
they do from flags and wild boars. By killing |
the males there is lefs hazard of diminifhing the |

es than by killing the females ; and. befides,
llow, and their fkins. |

{peci
the males have much more ta

are the largeft and beft,

Thefe fkins are an object of no {mall confi- |
The natives drefs them with their |
tofuch great perfection, as to render |
them more pliable than our buff. They dye |
them different colours, and cloath themfelves |

therewith. To the French they fupply the place |

deration.
wool on,

|

of the beft blankets, being at the fame time very |
warm and very light. | i

- The ftag is entirely the fame with that of.
France, only he is a little larger. They are.
only to be found in Upper Louifiana, where the
woods are much thinner than in Lower Lout-.
fiana, and the chefnuts which the ftag greatly

Joves are very common,

Bee Sh ‘, The deer is very frequent in this province,
notwithftanding the great numbers of them that
are killed by the natives. ‘According to the

punters, he partly refembles the flag, the rain-
f deer,
oe

OF LOUISIANA. gy

deer, and the roe-buck. As to myfelf I can
‘only fay what I have feen, that he is abeut four
feet high, has large horns bending forwards,
and decorated with feveral antlers, the ends of
which are formed fomewhat like a rofe; that
lhis fleth is dry like that of ours, and when he
is fat taftes like mutton. They feed in herds,
‘and are not in the leaft of a fierce nature. They
are exceilively capricious, hardly remain a mo-
iment in one place, but are coming and going
continually. The natives drefs the fkin ex-
‘tremely well, like buff, and afterwards paint it.
‘Thofe fkins that are brought to France ate often
called does fkins.

_ The natives hunt the deer -fometimes in
companies, and fometimes alone, ‘The hunter
who goes out alone furnithes himfelf with the
Gried head of a deer, with part of the fkin’
of the neck faftened to it, and this fkin is
flretched out with feveral hoops made of {plit
cane, Which are kept in their places by other
[plits placed along the infide of the fin, fo that
the hands and arms may be eafily put within the
neck.. Being thus provided, he goes in queft
of the deer, and takes all neceflary precau-
‘lions not to be difcovered by that animal :
When he fees one, he approaches it as
ie ay D2

as

gently

%

52 THE HIS TORY
as poffible, hiding himfelf behind a bufh which

he carries in his hand, till he be within fhot of

+t. But if, before he can come near enough, the

buck fhakes its head, which is a fign that it is

going to make fome capers and run away, the
hunter immediately counterfeits the cries of
thofe animals when they call each other, in |
which cafe the buck frequently comes up to- |
wards him. He then fhews the head which he |
holds in his hand, and by lowering and lifting |
his arm by turns, it makes the appearance of a |
buck feeding, and lifting his head from time |
to time to gaze. The hunter ftill keeps him: |
{elf behind the buhh, till the buck comes near |
enough to him, and the moment he turns his
fide he fires at the hollow of his fhoulder, and \

lays him dead.

When the natives want to make the dance
of the deer; or if they want to exercife them. ;
{elves merrily ; or if it fhould happen that the
Great Sun inclines to {uch fport, they go about :
an hundred of them in a company to the hunting
of this animal, which they muft bring home:
alive. As it is a diverting exercife, many young:
men are generally of the party, who difperfe
themfelves in the meadows among the thickets.

qn order to difcover the deer. They no fooner'
perceive

|

OF-LOUISTAIN A, 59

perceive one than they advance towards him

in a wide crefcent, one point of which may be

about a quarter of a league from the other.
Part of the crefcent draws near to him, which
frightens him away to another point; that part

likewife advancing, he immediately flies back to
the other fide. He is kept thus running from

_ one fide to another aconfiderable time, on pur-

pofe to exercife the young men, and afford di-
verfion to the Great Sun, or to another Little

~ Sun, who is nominated to fupply his place. The

deer fometimes attempts to get out and efcape

| by the openings of the crefcent, in which cafe

thofe who are at the points run forwards, and

_ oblige him to go back. The crefcent then gra-

dually forms a circle; and when they perceive

_the deer beginning tobe tired, part of them

{toop almoft to the ground, and remain in that
pofture till he approaches them, when they rife
and fhout: he inftantly flies off to the other
fide, where they do the fame; by which means
he is at length fo exhaufted, that he is no
longer able to ftand on his legs, and fuffers him-
felf to be taken like a lamb. Sometimes how-
ever he defends himfelf on the ground with
his antlers and fore-feet; they thérefore ufe the
precaution to feize upon him behind, and even
in that cafe they are fometimes wounded.

WES The

84 hr Be SoTe OUR

The hunters having feized the deer prefent it
> to the Great Sun, or in his abfence to the per-.

| fon whom he fent to reprefent him. If he fays,
well, the roeebuck is immediately opened, and |,
its four quarters carried to the hut of the Great
Sun, who gives portions of them to the chief
men among the hunters.

i

The wolfis not above fifteen inches high, and
of a proportionable length. Heis not fo brown
as our wolves, nor fo fierce and dangerous; he
is therefore more like a dog than a wolf, efpe- |
cially the dog of the natives, who differs from _
him in nothing, but that he barks. The wolf
is very common in the hunting countries; and
when the hunter makes a hut for himfelf in the
evening upon the bank of a river, if he fees the _
wolf, he may be confident that the bufalosare _
notatavery great diflance. It is faid, that | |
animal, not daring to attack the bufalo when in

a herd, will come and give notice to the hontele
that he may kill him, in hopes of coming in
for the offals. The wolves are actually fo fa-_
_miliar, that they come and go on all fides when
looking for fomething to eat, without minding.
in the leaft whether they be near or ata di-_
ftance from the habitations of men.

In |

GPF L6 US LAN: A. be

In my time two very large black wolves were
feen in Louifiana. The oldeft inhabitants, and
thofe who travel to the remoteft parts of the co-
Jony, declared that they had never before feen any
fach ; from whence it was concluded, that they
were foreign wolves which had loft their way.
Fortunately they killed them both; for one of
them was a fhe-wolf big with young.

The bear appears in Lovifiana in winter, as
the fnows, which then cover the northern cli-
mates, hinder him from procuring a fubfiftence
there, and force him fouthwards. If fome few
are feen in the fummer time, they are only the
flow young bears, that have not been ftrong
enough to follow the herd northwards. The
bear lives upon roots and fruits, particularly
acorns; but his moft delicate food is honey and
milk. When he meets with either of thefe
laft, he will rather fuffer himfelf to be killed
than quite his prize. Our colonifts have fome-
times diverted themfelves by burying a {mall
pail with fome milk in it almoft up ‘to the edge
in the ground, and fetting two young bears ta
it. Phe conteft then was which of the two
fhould hinder the other from tafting the milk,

and both of them fo tore the earth with their

paws, and pulled at the pail, that they gene-

D 4 rally

56 THE HEIESTORY
rally overturned the milk, before either of them
had tafted of it.

In oppofition to the general opinion, which
fuppofes the bear a carnivorous animal, I af-
firm, with all the inhabitants of this colony, and
the neighbouring countries, that he never feeds
upon flefh. It is indeed to be lamented that
the firft travellers had the impudence to publith
to the world-.a thoufand falfe ftories, which were.
eafily believed becaufe they were new. ' People,
{o far from wifhing to be undeceived, have even
‘been offended with thofe who attempted to de-
tect the general errors; butit is my duty to fpeak
the truth, for the fake of thofe who are willing
to hear it. What I maintain here is nota mere
conjectural fuppofition, but a known fact over _
| all North America, which may be attefted by
Pa the evidence of a great number of people who
3 have lived there, and by the traders who are
going and coming continually. There 1s not
one inftance can be given of their having de-/
voured men, notwithftanding their great mul-.
: titudes, and the extreme hunger which they) |
muft fometimes have fuffered ; for even in that |

abide OS

cafe they never fo much as touch the butchers:

* meat which they meet with. ‘i
|
The

>

a

The bears feldom quit the banks of the Mz/-
fiibi, asit is there that they can beft procure
a fubfiftence; but when I lived at the Watches
there happened fo fevere a winter, that thofe
animals came from the north in fuch num-
bers that they flarved each other, and were
very lean. Their great hunger obliged them
to quit the woods which line the banks of the

river; they were feen at night running among:

the fettlements; and they fometimes even en-
tered thofe court yards that were not well fhut ;
they there found butchers meat expofed to the
open air, but they never touched it, and eat
only the corn or roots they could meet with.
Certainly on fuch an occafion as this, and in
fuch a preffing want, they would have proved
- earnivorous, if it had been in the lealk degree
their natural difpofition.

But perhaps one will fay, ‘ It is true they
é¢ never touch dead flefh ; itis only living flefh
¢¢ that they devour.” That is being very de-
licate indeed, and what I can by no means allow
them; for if they were flefh-eaters, I greatly
» fufpect that, in the fevere famine which I have
{poken of, they would have made a hearty meal

of the butchers meat which they found inthe =~

court yards; or at leaft would have devoured
1 ag feveral

«

a eye LOW PS SAE A. oy

i aa 2

em STE WLS TORY

feveral perfons who fell in their way, which
they never did. The following fact however
will be a more compleat anfwer to this ob-

jection.

Two Canadians, who were on a journey,
landed on a fand-bank, when they perceived a.
bear croffing the river. As he appeared fat, and.
confequently would yield a great deal of oil, one.
of the travellers ran forwards.and fired at him. |
Unhappily however he only flightly wounded: |
kim; andas the bears in that cafe always turn |
upon their enemy, the hunter was immediate~
ly feized by the wounded bear,, who in a few
moments fqueezed him to death, without:
wounding him in the leaft with his teeth, al-~
tho’ his muzzle was againft his face, and he
muft certainly have been exafperated. The |
other Canadian,, who was not above three hun-_
died paces diflance, ran to fave his comrade:
with the utmoft {peed, but he was dead-before he-
came up to him ;. and the bear efcaped into the

- -—--weod.. Upon examining: the eorpfe he found the
place, where the bear had {queezedit,. prefled
in, ad ae more than the reft of the breath.

a Some: perhaps may Mull add, that the mildnols;

of the climate of Lowi/iana may haye an. effodti
vgom

OF Liggu' rs TiANeA- 59
wpon the difpofition of the bears, and prevent
them from being fo voracious as thofe of our
continent; but I affirm that carnivorous ani-
mals retain the fame difpofition in all countries.
The wolves of Louifiana are carnivorous as well
as thofe of Europe, altho’ they differ in other
particulars, “The tigers of 4frica, and thofe of
America, are equally mifchievous animals, The
wild-cats of America, tho” very different from

thofe of Europe, have however the fame ap-

petite for mice when they are tamed. It is
the fame with other fpecies, naturally inclined
to live upon other animals; and the bears of
America, if flefh-eaters, would not quit the
countries covered with fnow, where they would
find men and other animals in abundance, to.
come fo far in fearch of fruits and roots ; which
Kind of nourifhment carniverous animals refufe
to tafte *..

Bears are feen very frequently in Louifiana in
the winter time, and they are fo little dreaded,
that the people fometimes make it a diverfion! |

* Since L.wrote the above account of the bears, Ehave
been certainly informed,.that in the mountains of Suvoy there
gre two forts of bears. THe one black like that of Lovi-
fana, and not carnivorous 5 the other red, and no lefs carni-
vorous than the wolves. Both forts turn upon. their enemy
when wounded. .

D © to

\

6% THE HIS a ORY 24
to hunt them. When they are fat, that is
about the end of December, they cannot run for |
faftas aman; therefore the hunters are in no
danger if they fhould turn uponthem. The
fhe-bears are tolerably fat when they are big. |
with young; but after they have littered they |

quickly become lean,

\

The bears ufually arrive in Louifana towards:
the end of autumn; and then they are very
lean, as they do not leave the north till the |
earth be wholly covered with fnow, and find:
often but a very fcanty fubfiftence in their way
fouthwards. I faid above, that thofe animals.
feldom go to any great diftance from the river ;.
and on both banks travellers meet with fuch a
beaten path in winter, that to thofe who are
not acquainted with it, it appears like the track
of men. I myfelf, the firft time I obferved it,
was deceived by it. I was then near 200 miles. _.
from any human dwelling, yet the path at firft
appeared tome as if it had been made by thou- is
fands of men, who. had walked that way bare- |
footed. Upon anarrower infpection however,
I obferved, that the prints of the feet were >
‘fhorter than that of a man, and that there was
the impreffion of a claw at the end of each.toe.
it is proper to obferve that in thofe paths the
bear

OF LOUISIANA. 61
bear does not pique himfelf upon politenefs,
and will yield the way to nobody; therefore it

is prudent in a traveller not to fall out with
him for fuch a trifling affair.

The bears, after they have been a fhort time
in the country, and found abundance of fruits,
turn fat and lazy, and itis then the natives go
out to hunt them. The bear, when he is fat,
huts himfelf, that is, retires into the hollow
trunk of fome rotten tree that has died on end.
The natives, when they meet with any of thofe
trees, which they fufpect contains a bear in it,
give two or three ftrong blows againft the
trunk, and immediately run behind the next
tree oppofite to the loweft breach. If there be
a bear within, he appears in a few minutes at the
breach, to look out and {py the occafion of the
difturbance ; but upon obferving nothing likely

to annoy him, he goes down agaia to the bot-
tom of his caftle.

The natives having once feen their prey, ga-
ther a heap of dried canes, which they bruife
with their feet, that they may burn the eafier,.
and one of them mounting upon a tree adjoin-
ing to that in which the bear is, fets fire to the
seeds , and darts them one after another into the
breach 5

x

62 THE HiS-FTORY

breach, the other hunters having planted them
felves in ambufcade upon other trees. The
bear is quickly burned out of his habitation,,
and he no fooner appears on the outfide than
they let fly their arrows at him, and often kilk
him before he gets to the bottom of the tree.

He is no fooner dead than fome of the hun-
ters are difpatched to look for a deer, and they
feldom fail of bringing in one or two. When
a deer is brought they cut off the head, and-
then take of the fkin whole, beginning, at the
neck, and rolling it down, as they cut it, like a

-ftocking. ‘The legs they cut off at the knee-
joints, and having cleaned and wafhed the fkin,.
they {top all the holes except the neck, with ae
kind of pafte made of the fat of the deer mixed:
with afhes, over which they tie feveral bindings
with the bark of the lime-tree. Having thus
provided a kind of cafk, they fill it with the
oil of the bear, which they prepare by boiling:
the flefh and fat together. This deer of cil, as’
“it is called, they fell to the French for a gun, a °
yard of cloth, or any other thing of that value.
"The French, before they ule it, purify it, by q

putting it into a large kettle, with a, handful
of laurel leaves; and fprinkling it when it be-
gins to be hot with fome water, in which the
hav

|

OF LOUISIANA. 63

have diffolved a large quantity of falt. The
fmoke that rifes upon this fprinkling carries off
with it any bad {mell the fat may have; they
next pour it off into a veffel, and eight days af-
ter there is found on the top of it a clear oil
which ferves all the purpofes of olive oil; what
remains below is a fine kind of lard, proper for-
the kitchen, and a fovereign remedy for all kinds
of pains. I myfelf was cured of the rheumatifm
in.my fhoulder by it.

The Tiger is not above a foot and a half
high, and long in proportion: his hair is fome-
what of a bright bay colour, and. he is brifk.as
all tigers naturally are. His flefh when boiled
__ taftes like veal, only it is not fo infipid. There

are very few of them to be feen; I never faw.
but two near my fettlement; and I have great
reafon to. think that it was the fame beaft I faw
“ both times. The firft time he laid hold of my
dog who barked and howled; but. upon my
running towards him, the tiger left him. The
‘hext time he feized a pig ; but this I likewife
refcued, and his‘claws had: gone no deeper than
the fat. This animal is not more carnivorous
than fearful; he flies at the fight of a man, and
makes off with greater {peed, if you fhout and.
halloo as.he runs, |

The

64 THE HISTORY.
The Cat-a-mount is akind of wild cat, as
high as the tiger, but not fo thick, and_ his
{kin is extremely beautiful. He is a great de-,

_ ftroyer of poultry, but fortunately his {pecies

is rare.

Foxes arefo numerous, that upon the woody
heights you frequently fee nothing but their
holes. As the woods afford them plenty of
game, they do not moleft the poultry,. which are
always allowed to run at large. The foxes are |
exactly fhaped like ours, but their fkin is much |
more beautiful. Their hair is fine and thick,
of a deep brown colour, and over this rife fe-

veral long filvered-coloured hairs, which have a |

fine effect.

The wild cat has been improperly fo called
“py the firft French fettlers in Louifiana ; for it’
has nothing of the cat but its nimble activity, |
and rather refembles a monkey. It is not above
@ight or ten inches high, and about —
* Jong. Its head is like that of a fox; it has
Jong toes, but. very fhort claws, not made for
feizing game ; accordingly it lives upon fruit,

bread, and other fuch things. This animal
- gay be tamed, and then becomes very frolick-
| * fome and fullof tricks. The hair of thofe that,

OF TOUESIANA. 6%

are tame is grey; but of the wild is reddith ;

neither of them is fo beautiful as that of the
fox; it grows very fat, and its flefh is good ta

eat. I fhall not defcribe the real wild cat, as

it is entirely like ours.

The Rabbit is extremely common over all
Louifiana ; it is particular in this, that its pile
is like that of the hare, and it never burrows.
Its fleth is white and delicate, and has the ufual
tafte, without any ranknefs. There is no other

Kind of Rabbit or Hare, if you pleafe to call
it, in all the colony, than that abeve defcribed.

The Woed-Rat has the. head and tail of a

common rat, but has the bulk and length of a

cat. Its legs are fhort, its paws long, and its
toes are armed with claws; its tail is almoft
without hair, and ferves for hooking itfelf to.

any thing’; for when you take hold of it by that

part, it immediately twifts itfelf round your
finger. Its pile is grey, and tho’ very fine, yet
is never {mooth. The women among the na-
tives {pin itand dye it red. it hunts by night,
and makes war upon the poultry, only fucking
their blood and leaving their flefh. It is very.
rare to fee any creature walk fo flow; and Ihave.

often catched them when walking my ordinary.

paces,

fe OP EL Oe A OOO IRON

pace. When he fees himfelf upon the point of
being caught, inftinét prompts him to counter-
feit being dead; and in this he perfeveres with
fuch conftancy, that tho? laid on a hot gridiron
he will not make the leaft fign of life. He ne-
ver moves unlefs the perfon go to a diftance or
hide himfelf, in which cafe he endeavours as
faft as poffible to efcape into fome hole er

bufh.

When the fhe-one is about to litter, fhe chiles
a place i in the thick bufhes at the foot of a tree,
after which fhe and the male crop a great deal ofl
fine dry grafs, which is loaded upon her belly, and
then the male drags her and her burden by the tail
tothe littering place. She never quits her young —
a moment; but when fhe is obliged to change |
her lodging carries them with her in a pouch or
double fkin that wraps round her belly, and |
there they may fleep or fuck at their eafe. T nag
two fides of this pouch lap fo clofe that the join-
ing can hardly be obferved; nor can they be |
parated without tearing the fkin, If the thee |
one be caught carrying her young thus with her,”
fhe will fuffer her fel ta be roafted alive, witha
out the leaft fign of life, rather than open i |
pouch and aa her young ones, The fle
of this animal is very good, and taftes {omewhat

ig
2
ce aang freaes

OF DVOUWISTANA. ‘&

like that of a fucking pig, when it is firft broil-
ed, and afterwards roafted on the fpit.

The Pole-cat or Skunk is about the fize of a
kitten eight monthsold. The male is of a beau-
ful black, but the female has rings of white in-
termixed with the black. Its ear and its paw
are like that of a moufe, and it has a very lively
eye. I fuppofe it lives upon fruits and feeds,
It is moft juftly called the /rinking beaft, for its
odour is fo ftrong, that it may be purfued upon
the track twenty-four hours after it has paffed.
It goes very flow, and when the hunter ap-
proaches it, it fquirts out far and wide fuch a
ftinking urine, that neither man nor beaft can
hardly approach it. A drop of this creature’s
blood, and probably fome of its urine, having
one day fallen upon my coat when I was hunt-
ing, I was obliged as faft as poflible to go home
and change my cloaths; and before I could ufe
my coat it was fcoured and expofed for feveral
days to the dew. :

The Squirrels of Lowifiana are like thofe of
| France, excepting ene kind, which are called
_ Flying-Squirrels, becaufe they leap from one
tree to another, tho’ the diftance between them
be twenty-five or thirty feet. It is about the

| {ize

6s eDHE HI sor ok ¥

fize of a rat, and of a deep afh-colour. Its
two fore-legs are joined to its two hind-legs by

two membranes, fo that when it leaps it feems

to fly, tho’ it always leaps fomewhat down-

wards. This animal may be very eafily tamed ;

but even then it is beft to chain it. There is

another fort, not much bigger thana moufe, and

of a bright bay-colour. Thefe are fo familiar |
that they will come out of the woods, will en- |
ter the houfes, and fit within two yards of the
people of the houfe, if they do not make-any
motion; and there they will feed on any maiz |
within their reach. I never was fo well divert-
ed in my life with the frolics of any animal, as |
I have been with the vivacity and attitudes of
this little fquirrel. |

}

The Porcupine is large and fine of his kind; —
but as he lives only upon fruit, and loves cold, |
is moft common about the river Jdinois, where
the climate is fomewhat cold, and there is plenty -
of wild fruits. ‘The fkin, when ftripped of the )
quills, is white and brown. The natives dye |
part of the white, yellow and red, and the: '
brown they dye* black. They have likewife™’
‘the art of fpliting the fkin, and applying it to
many curious works, particularly to trim the
edges
a |

/
na

OF LOUISIANA.

69
edges of their deer-fkins, and to line fall bark-
boxes, which are very neat.

The Hedge-Hog of Louifiana is in every re-
—fpe& the fame with that of Europe.

I thall not enlarge upon the Beavers, which are
univerfally known, from the many deicriptions -
we have of them.

The Otters are the fame with thofe of France,
and there are but very few of them to be feen.

Some Turtle ate feen in this country; but ve-
ry rarely. In the many hundred leagues of
country that I have paffed over, I have hardly
ever feen above a hundred.

Frogs are very common, efpecially in Lower
Louifiana, notwithftanding the great number of
fnakes that deftroy them. There are fome that.
grow very large, fometimes above a foot and an
half long, and aftonifh ftrangers at firft by their

croaking, efpecially if they ‘are in a hollow
tree.

The Crocodile is very common in the river
Mififipi. Altho’ this amphibious animal be
almoft as well known as thofe I have juft men-

Ae ( tioned,

§

7 THE HISTORY

tioned, I cannot however omit taking fome na*

tice of it. Without troubling the reader with

a defcription of it, which he will meet with
every where, I fhall obferve that it fhuns the
banks of the river frequented by men. It lays
its eggs in the month of May, when the funis
already hot in that country, and it depofits
them in the moft concealed place it can find
among grafs expofed to the heats of the fouth.
The eggs are about the fize of thofe of a goofe,

but longer in proportion. Upon breaking them _

you will find hardly any thing but white, the

yolk being about the fize of that of a youne |

hen. I never faw any that were new hatched.
The fmalleft I ever met with, which I conclud-

ed to be about three months old, was as long _
as a middle-fized eel, and an inch anda half '

thick. I have killed one nineteen feet long, and
three feet and a half in its greateft breadth. A
friend of mine killed one twenty-two feet long;

~and the legs of both of thefe, which on land :

feemed to move with great difficulty, were not
-above a foot in Jength. But however nog

they be on land, in the water they m move with © 4

eo agility.

Tl his animal has his body always covered |
with flime, which i is the cafe with all fithes that j

live.

a

i

OF LOUISIANA 71

live in muddy waters. When he comes on
fhore his track is covered with that flime, as
his belly-trails on the ground, and this renders
the earth very flippery in that part, efpecially
as he returns by the fame path to the water.
He never hunts the fifh upon which he fubfifts ;
but places himfelf in ambufcade, and ‘catches
them as they pafs. For that purpofe he digs a
hole in the bank of the river, below the furface .
of the water, where the current is {trong, hav-
ing a {mall entrance, but large enough within
to turn himfelf round in. The fifh, which are

fatigued with the ftrong current, are glad to get

into the fmooth water in that corner, and there
they are immediately feized by the Crocodile.

- I thall not contradict the accounts of venera-
ble antiquity about the Crocodiles of the Mie,
who fall upon men and devour them; who crofs
the roads, and make a flippery path upon them to
trip paffengers, and make them flide into the river;
who counterfeit the voice of an infant, to draw
ehildren into their {nares ; neither fhall I con-
tradi€&t the travellers who have confirmed thofe
{tories from mere hearfays. But as 1 profefs to
{peak the truth, and to advance nothing but
what I am certain of from my own knowledge,
I may fafely affirm that the Crocodiles of Loui/-

ang

a OTE ALS eR y

ana are doubtlefs of another fpecies than thofe :
of other countries. In fact, I never heard them
imitate the cries of an infant, nor is it at all,

probable that they can counterfeitthem. Their
voice is as ftrongas that of a bull. It is true
they attack men in the water, but never on
land, where they are not at all formidable.
Befides, there are nations that in great part fubs |
fift upon this animal, which is hunted out by

the fathers and mothers, and killed by the chil- |
dren. What can we then believe of thofe fo» |
ries that have been told us of the Crocodile? |

I myfelf killed all that ever 1 met of them;
and they are fo much the lefs to be dreaded,

in that they. can neither run nor rife up againft

4 man. - In the water indeed, which is their

{

favourite element, they are dangerous; but in
that cafe itis eafy to guard again{ft them.

The largeft of all the reptiles of Louifiana is

the Rattle-Snake: fome of them have been feen

&ifteen inches thick, and long in proportion ; b
this {pecies is naturally fhorter in proportion |
their thicknefs than the other kinds of ferpent

"This ferpent gets its name from feveral hollow |

knots at its tail, very thin and dry, which
arattling noife. Thefe knots, tho’ inferted
-¢o each other, are yet quite detached, and

OF LOUISIANA. 73

the firft of them is faftened to the fkin. The
number of the knots, it is faid, marks the age
of the ferpent, and I am much inclined to be-
lieve it; for as I have killed a great number of
them, I always obferved, that the longer and
thicker the {perpent was, it had the more knots.
Its fkin is almoft black; but the lower part of
its belly is ftriped black and white.

_ As foon as it hears or fees a man it roufes it-
felf by fhaking its tail, which makes a rattling
noife that may be heard at feveral paces dif-
tance, and gives warning to the traveller to be
upon his guard. It is much to be dreaded
when it coils itfelf up in a fpiral line, for then
it may eafily dart upon a man. It fhuns the
habitations of men, and by a fingular provi-
dence, wherever it retires to, there the herb
which cures its bite, is likewife to be found.

There are feveral other kinds of ferpents to
be feen here, fome of which refemble thofe of
France, and attempt to flip into the hen- -houfes_
to devour the eggs and new-hatched chickens,
Others are green, about two feet long, and
not thicker than a goofe-quill ; they frequent

the meadows, and may be feen running over
Vou, I, ts the -

\

Re

_« CUE WLS HORT
the {pires of grafs, fuch is their lightnefs and
-nimbleneds. en

Vipers are very rare in Lower Louifiana, a8
that reptile loves {toney grounds. In the high- |,
lands they are now-and-then to be met with,
and there they quite refemble ours. 4

Lizards are very common: there is a {mall
kind of thefe that are called Cameleons, becaufe
they change their colour according to that of

the place they pafs over™.

|

Among the fpiders of Louifiana there is one |
kind that will appear very extraordinary. It is |
as large, but rather longer than a pigeon’s egg, |
black, with gold-coloured fpecks. Its claws are.
pierced thro’ above the joints. It does not €ar-_,
but enclofes. them in a

ry its eggs like the reft, in
kind of cup covered with its filk. It lodges’

«tfelf in a kind of nut made of the fame filk,
and hung to the branches of the trees. «.F he |
web which this infect weaves is fo ftrong, that.

ye yi “ sf

ee

‘ ee) a
angty a nerve rifes archwife froma
throat ; and the kin which —

remain red whatever colour ?

# When the Cameleon is
his mouth to the middle of his
covers itis fo ftretched as to
‘the reft of the body be. He never does any hurt, and al-

sways runs away when obferved. . a

OF‘LOUISIANA. 95°
it not only ftops birds, but cannot even be

‘broken by men without a confiderable effort.

|

I never faw any Moles in Louifiana, nor heard
of any being feen by others.

BAP, VII.
Of Birds, and flying Lnfetis.

IRDS are fo very numerous in. Lowifiana,
that if all the different kinds of them
‘were known, which is far from being the cafe
at prefent, the defcription of them alone would
require an entire volume. I only undertake
‘the defcriptioa of all thofe, which have come
within my knowledge, the number of which,

Iam perfuaded, will be hes eb to fatisfy the
curious reader.

| The Eagle, the king of birds, is fialler
‘than the Eagle of the Abs; but he is much
more beautiful, being entirely white, except-
ing only the tips of his wings which are black.
Ashe is alfo very rare, this is another reafon
for heightening his value to the natives, who
‘purchale at a great price the large feathers of
| E2

i]

76 THE SHILS Te RI:
his wings, with which they ornament the Calu- s
met or {ymbol of peace, as I have elfewhere de- i |,
{eribed. | al

When {peaking of the king of birds, L. thall
take notice of the Wren, called by the French |
Roitelet (petty King) which is the fame in Lowi-
fiana as in France. The reafon of its name
in French will plainly enough appear from the
following hiftory. A magiftrate, no lels re-
fpectable for his probity than for the rank he |
holds in the law, affured me that, when he was_ |
at Sables @Olonne in Poitou, on account of an
eftate which he had in the neigbourhood of |
that city, he had the curiofity to go and feea '
white Eagle which was then brought from Ame~
rica. After. he had entered the houfe a Wren
was brought, and let fly in the hall where the:
Eagle was feeding. The Wren perched upon a
beam, and was no fooner perceived by the Ett |
gle than he left off feeding, flew into a corner,
and hung down his head. The little bird, on :.
the other hand, began to chirp and appear ans
gry, and a moment after flew upon the neck of —

the Eagle, and pecked him with the greatelt

fury, the Eagle all the while hanging his head

in a cowardly manner, between his feet | 1 he

ie
M

GE £0 GIS MAINA... - 77

Wren, after fatisfying its animofity, returned to
the beam,

The Falcon, the Hawk, and the Tafel are

‘the fame as in France; but the Falcons are

much more beautiful than ours.

The Carrion-Crow, or Turky-Buftard, is of

| the fize and thape of a Turky-coch; his head is
‘covered with red flefh, and his plumage is

black : he hasa hooked beak, but his toes are
armed with very fmall talons, and are therefore

|

very improper for feizing live game, which in-

deed he does not chufe to attack, as his want
of agility prevents him from dar ting upon it

with the rapidity of a bird of prey. Accord-
ingly he lives only upon the dead beats that
he happens to meet with, and yet notwithftand-
ing this kind of food he {mells of mufk. — Seve-
ral people maintain, that the Carrion-Crow, or

‘Carancro, is the fame with our Vulture. The

Spaniards forbid the killing of it under pain of
corporal punifhment; for as they do not ufe
the whole carcafe of the bufaloes which they
kill, thofe birds eat what they leave, which
otherwile by rotting on the ground, would, ac-
cording to them, infect the air,

78 TWEE) HTS TORY

The Cormorant is fhaped very much like.a
duck, but its plumage is different and much
more beautiful. This bird frequents the fhores
of the fea and of lakes, but rarely appears in
rivers. Its ufual food is fifth; but as it is very
voracious, it likewife eats dead flefh; and this |
it can tear to pieces by means of a notch in its |
bill, which is about the fize of that of a duck.

The Swans of Louifiana are like thofle of
France, only they are larger. However, not-
withftanding their bulk and their weight, they |
often rife fo high in the air, that they cannot |
be diftinguithed but by their fhrill cry.
Their fleth is very good to eat, and ther |
fat is a fpecific againft cold humours. The
natives fet a great value upon the feathers of -
the Swan. Of the large ones they make the
diadems of their fovereigns, hats, and other
ornaments; and they weave the {mall ones ;
the peruke-makers weave hair, and make co:
verings of them for their noble women, The -
young people of both fexes make tippets of
the fkin, without faipping it of its down. 7

4
The Canada-Goofe is a water- fowl, of the
fhape of a Goofe; but twice as large and heavy,

Its plumage is afh-coloured; its eyes are cover-

ed
” b i
4 i

OF LOUIS TAN A. 79
ved with a black fpot; its cries are different
from thofe of a goofe and fhriller; its’ ficfh is
excellent. : .

The Pelican is fo called from its large head;
its large bill, and above all for its large pouch,
which hangs from its neck, and has neither
feathers nor down. It fills this pouch with
fith, which it afterwards difgorges for the nou-
rifhment of its young. It never removes from
the fhores of the fea, and is often killed by
failors for the fake of the pouch, which when
dried ferves them as a purfe for their tobacco.

|

i

The Geefe are the fame with the Wild Geefe
of France. They abound upon the fhores of

the fea and of lakes, but are rarely feen in rivers.

In this country there are three kinds of Ducks;

“firft, the Indian Ducks, fo called becaufe they

came originally from that country. Thefe are
almoft entirely white, having but a very few
grey feathers. On each fide of their head they
have flefh of a more lively red than that of
the Turky-cock, and they are larger than aur

tame Ducks. They are as tame as thofe of

Europe, and their fleth when young is delicate,

-and of a fine flavour. The Wild Ducks are

E 4 ; fa tter

io. THES HIS TORY

fatter, more delicate, and of better tafte than thofe
of France; but in other refpects they are en-
tirely the fame. For one you fee in France
you may here count a thoufand. . The Perch- |
ing-Ducks or Carolina Summer-Ducks, are fome- |
what larger than our 7ea/s. Their plumage is-
quite beautiful, and fo changeable that no-paint-
ing can imitate it. Upon their head they have
a beautiful tuft of the moft lively colours, and }
their red eyes appear like flames. The nar
tives ornament their calumets or pipes with
the fkin of their neck. Their flefh is very
good, but when itis too fat it taftes oily. Thefe
Ducks are. to be met with the whole year round;
they perch upon the branches of trees, which
‘the others do not, and itis from this they have

their name.

K
f x

The Zeal are found in every foafshe and
they differ nothing from thofe of France but i in |

having a finer relifh. . 4

. The Divers of Lowifiana are the fame with

thofe of France: they no fooner fee the fire in
the pan, than they dive fo fuddenly that the
fhot cannot touch them, and they are therefore |

called Lead-Eaters.

|

i | The

OEY ROWLRS LAN A. 81

The Saw-bill has the infide of its beak in-
dented like the edge of a faw: it is faid to live

wholly upon fhrips, the fhells of which it can
-eafily break, ~

‘The Crane is a very common water-fowl; it
is larger than a Turhky, very lean, and of an

excellent tafte. It eats fomewhat like beef, and
makes very good foup.

good,

|

its bill, which is about feven or eight inches
long, an inch broad towards the head, and two
inches and a half towards the extremity; it is
not quite fo large asa Wild Goofe; its thighs
and legs are about the height ef thofe of a.
Turky. Its plumage is rofe-coloured, the
wings being brighter than any other part.
This is a water-fowl, and its fleth is very good,

ferent from that of Euroge.

i
~

Es

The

The Flamingo has only a little down upon —
its head; its plumage is grey, and its Aeth

The Sfatula has its name from the form of

. e ; ° a?
The Heron of Louifiana is not in the laf dif. _

* 82 THE (RID PAQRYWo
The Egret, or White Heron, is fo called from
tufts of feathers upon the wings near the body
which hinder it from flying high; itis a wa-
ter-fowl with white plumage; but its fle
taftes very oily. |

The Bee-croche, or Crook-bill, has indeed a- |
crooked bill, with which it feizes the cray-fiy |
upon which it fubfifts. Its flefh has that tafte, |
and isred. Its plumageis a whitifh grey ; and
it is about the fize of a capon. + ay

The Indian Water-Hen, and the Green-Foot,

are the fame as in France.

The Hatchet-Bill is fo called on account of 4!
sts bill, which is red, and formed like the edge
of an ax. Its feet are alfo of a beautiful red, and
“t is therefore often called Red-Foot. AAs it lives

ll-fith it never removes from the fea-

upon fhe cAcm |
coaft, but upon the approach of aftorm, which ©

is always fure to follow its retiring into the in-

land parts. |

+
4
a
:

J

a

‘ee
“The King-Fifber excelg-ours in nothing but _
in the beauty of its plumage, which is as va-
rious as the rain-bow. This bird, it is well
known, goes always againft the wind ; but per-i |
haps)

OF LOUISIANA. 83
haps few people know that it preferves the |
fame property when it is dead. Imyfelf hung
a dead one bya filk thread directly over a fea-

_compafs, and I can declare it as a fact that the
bill was always turned towards the wind.

The Sea-Lark and Sea-Snige never quit the
fea; their flefh may be eat, as it has very little
of the oily: tafte.

The Frigate-Bird is a large bird, which in
the day-time keeps itfelf in the air above the
fhore of the fea. It often rifes very high, pro-
_bably for exercife; for it feeds upon fifth, and
every night- retires to the coaft. It appears
larger than it really is, as it is covered with a
great many feathers of a grey colour. Its
wings are very long, its tail forked, and it cuts

the air with great fwiftnefs.

_ ‘The Draught-Bird is a large bird, not much
unlike the Frigate-Bird, as light, but not fo
{wift. The under-part of its plumage is
chequered brown and white, but the upper-
part is of greyifh brown.

The Fool is of a yellowifh colour, and about
the fize of a hen; it is fo called, becaufe it
E : E 6 will

apie.
x

Guy Te HB 1 GTA ORY,

\

will fuffer a man to approach it fo near as to.
feize it with his hand: but even then it is too
foon to cry vittory;-for if the perfon who.
{eizes it does not take the greateft precaution,
it will {nap off his finger at one bite.

When thofe three laft birds are obferved to
hover very low over the fhore, we may moft.
certainly expect an approaching ftorm, On the

other hand, when the failors fee the Hascyons

behind their veflel, they expect and generally
meet with fine weather for fome days.

“Since I have mentioned the Halcyon, 1 {hall
here defcribe it. Itis a {mall bird, about the
fize of a Swallow, but its beak is longer, and ~
irs plumage is violet-coloured. It has two
fireaks of a yellowifh brown at the end of the
feathers of its wings, which when it fits appear.
upon its back. When we left Lousiana near ‘

an hundred Halcyons followed our veffel for

near three days: they kept at the diftance of
about a ftone-caft, and -feemed to fwim, yet L .
could never difcover that their feet were webbed,
and was therefore greatly furprifed. They
probably live upon the {mall infects that drop
from the out-fide of the veffel when failing; for —
they now-and-then dived and came up in the |

fame

OPMLGUISIANA ay;

fame place. I have fome fufpicion that, by

keeping in the wake of the fhip, they float af-
ter it without fwiming; for when they happen-

ed to be out of the wake of the fhip they were

obliged to fly in order to come up with the fhip
again. This bird is faid to build its neft of the
glutinous froth of the fea clofe upon the fhore,
and to launch it when a land breeze arifes, raifing
one of its wings in the form of a fail, which
receiving the wind helps to carry it out to fea,

I fhall now proceed to fpeak of the fowls
which frequent the woods, and fhall begin with
the Wild-Turky, which is very common all over
thecolony. Itis finer, larger, and better than
that in France. © The feathers of the Turky are
of, a dufkifh grey, edged with a ftreak of gold
colour, near half an inch broad. In the {mall
feathers the gold-coloured ftreak is not above
one tenth of an inch broad. The natives
make fans of the tail, and of four tails joined
together the French make an umbrella. |The
women among the natives weave the feathers
as our peruke-makers weave their hair, and
faften them to an old covering of bark, which
they likewife line with*them, fo that it has
down.on both fides. Its fleth is more delicate,
fatter, and more juicy than that of ours, They.

@ £9

<) : ¢ .
86 THE HISTORY

g0 in flocks, and with a dog one may killa
great many of them. I never could procure
any of the Turky’s eggs, to try to hatch them,
and difcover whether they were as difficult to
bring up in this country as in France, fince the
climate of both countries is almoft the fame. |
My flave told me that in his nation they brought
up the young Turkies as eafily as we do chick-
ens. 3

The Pheafant is the moft beautiful bird that |
can be painted, and in every refpeét entirely
like that of Europe. ‘Their rarity in my opi-
nion makes them more efteemed than they de-
ferve. I would at any time prefer a flice off |
the fillet of a Bufalo to any Pheafant. y

The Partridges of Louifiana are not larger '
than a Woed-pigeon. Their plumage is exattly _
the fame with that of our grey Partridges 3
they have alfo the horfe-fhoe upon the breaft;

_ they perch upon trees, and are feldom feen ia

flocks. ‘Their cry confifts only of two ftrong’ |
notes, fomewhat refembling thename giventhem
by the natives who call them Ho-ouy. Their

fieth is white and delicate, but, like all the other —
game in this country, it has no mene and on- |
ly excels in the fine tafte, ‘a

ours, which is owing to the plenty and ual

in Loujfiana; 1 have fometimes heard it, but

did,

refpect does not in the leaft refemble it.

very common. Its plumage is varied with fe-

ps ae

OF LOUISIANA. 8%

The Woodcock is very rare, becaufe it is on-
ly to be met with in inhabited countries. It
is like that of France; its flefh is white, but
rather plumper and more delicate than that of

nefs of its fruit.

The Snipe is much more common than the
Woodcock, and in this country is far from be-
ing fhy. Its flefh is white, and of a much
better relifh than that of ours.

Lam of opinion that the Quail is very rare
never faw it, nor know any Frenchman that ever
Some of our colonifts have thought proper

to give the name of Ortolan to a {mall bird
which has the fame plumage, but in every other

The Corbijeau is as large as the Woodcock, and

veral fhady colours, and is different from that
of the Woodcock; its feet and beak are alfo long-

er, which laft is crooked and of a reddifh yellow

ek

THE HISTORY

;

likewife firmer and better}

8.
ia |
all
th
tt
at]
a
bee

~
s
=

——

—_ aoe Se A —— se |
beak, and fades off into green towards the body
* -

; > a a ae See
even them it rarely practies if, racmouns im
iinw inn seated Steeweitel wer aS ae ttle
tus © fhanves wmemecres, Wo ipeax ite,
=> 7 . 2
_— _ — — — > Ss <---> -
As 2 filent Parret would nev maxe its iGr-|
= << * + 7 vu
2. Aa boys a
taine 2inone Our 6rence DE

this account that we fee fo few of thefe

France.

4 oo = > cr = &B . of
=7 . a a _ -
Lhe Htc ié GWE is ine i2me 9 if Hera 7%
; : # Se ee
Eurepe, but 1c¢W OF them are cen Pere.
t ry, ae eek! P a mrastnee see |
De i 5O5-F ifl/Sens 2Fe€ 1€Sen if ite PrOGi2z10ags® |:
—
— = +h - I 4 or es 7 owatocrs-cts — \
HneMoDSes, tat GO BROt tear iO CESSES af, Wied |
—- - ell
re : - = ad tr ;
*--—-*+ => va = -. = - - > \
I afirm that they fometimes cloud the fan,

One day on the banks of the 4i/7/$7 1 met witht;
a flock of them which was fo large, that before
they all paffed I had Jeifure to fire with the:
fame piece four times at them. But the rapie.
dity of their fight was fo great, that tho’ T|

co

OF LOUISIANA. a

iJ, with my four fhots I brought

Theie birds come to Lzuifia ina only in the
Winter, and remain in Cznada during the fum-
mer, where they devour the com, as they eat the
2coms in Lowifiana. The Canadians have ufed
every art to hinder them from doing fo much mif-

me fucceis.

$ in the manner that views done, they
ould jafenibly deftroy them. When they
walk among the high foreft trees, they ought
to remark under what trees the largeft
dung isto be feen. Thofe trees |
difcovered, the hunters ought to go out when
# begins to 0% dark, and carry with Sa
2 quantity of brimftone which they
fire to in fo many earthen plates

~
_
—

co:

Jar diftances under the tr
time they will hear a fhower
falling to the. ground, which, bj

>

fome dried canes, they may a into facks,
2s foon as the brimflone is extinguithed.

I fail here give an inflance that proves not
only the prodigious number of thofe birds, but
alio their fingular inftin®&. In one of my jour-

Des

+

6 THE HISTORY

-neys at land, when I happened to be upon the }
-bank of the river, I heard a confufed noife,
which feemed to come along the river froma
confiderable diftance below us. As the found }
continued uniformly I embarked, as faft as 1}
could, on board the pettiaugre, with four other
men, and fteered down the river, keeping in the |
middle, that I might go to any fide that beft |
fuited me. But how great was my furprife!
when I approached the place from whence the |
noife came, and obferved it to proceed from |
a thick fhort pillar on the bank of the river.
When I drew ftill nearer to it, I perceived that |
it was formed by a legion of wood-pigeons, |
whe kept continually flying up and down fuc-
ceffively among the branches of an ever-green '
oak, in order to beat down the acorns with
their wings. Every now-and-then fome alight. '
ed to eat the acorns which they themfelves or :
the others had beat down ; for they all ated in|
common, and eat in common ; no avarice nor pri- |
vate intereft appearing among them, but each
labouring as much for the reft as for himfelf.

+

Crows are common in Louifiana, and as they
eat no carrion their fleth is better tafted than
that of the crows of France. Whatever their

appetite

OF LOUISIANA. ol

appetite may be, they dare not for the carrion

crow approach any carca{s.

_ [never faw any Ravens in this country, and
if there be any they mutt be very rare.

The Owls are larger and whiter than in
| France, and their cry is much more frightful.
The Little Owl is the fame with ours, but much
"more rare. Thefe two birds are more common

in Lower Louifiana than in the higher.

The Magpye refembles thofe of Europe in
nothing but itscry; it is more delicate, is quite
‘black, has a different manner of flying, and
chiefly frequents the coafts. |

The Blackbirds are black all over, not ex-
_cepting their bills nor their feet, and are almoft
as large again as ours. Their notes are differ-
ent, and their flefh is hard.

There are two forts of Starlings in this coun-
try one grey and fpotted, and the other black.
In both the tip of the fhoulder is of a bright
red. They are only to be feen in winter; and
then they are fo numerous, that upwards of
900 of them have been taken at once in a net.

ii A

92. . THE) 1's HoRy

A beaten path is made near a wood, and after |
it is cleaned and fmoothed, it is ftrewed with |
rice. On each fide of this path is ftretched |
~ a long narrow filken net, with very {mall |
mefhes, and made to turn over at once by ftrings |
faftened to the ftick that ftretches the end of it. |
The ftarlings no fooner alight to pick up the |
grain, than the fowler, who lies concealed with |
the ftrings in his hand, pulls the net over them. |

i |}

The Woeod-becker is much the fame as in |
France; but here there are two kinds of them; -
one has grey feathers fpotted with black; the |
other has the head and the neck of a bright -
red, and the reft of the body as the former,
This bird lives upon the worms which it finds —
in rotten wood, and not upon ants, asa modern ©
author would have us believe, for want of hav- ,
ing confidered the nature of the things which
he relates. The bird, when looking for its
food, examines the trunks of trees that have lof |
their bark’; it clafps by its feet with its belly
clofe to the tree, and hearkens if it can hear a
- worm eating the wood; in this manner it leaps
_ from place to place upon the trunk till it hears
: a worm, then it pierces the wood in that part,
‘ pricks the worm with its hard and pointed
tongue, and draws it out. The arms which, |
i nature

OF LOUISIANA. 93

nature has furnifhed it with are very proper for
this kind of hunting; its claws are hard and
very fharp; its beak is formed like a little ax,
and is very hard; its neck is long and flexible

jto give proper play to its beak; and its hard
tongue, which it can extend three or four inches,

asa moft fharp point, with feveral beards that
help to hold the prey.

_ The Swallows of this country have that part

yellow which ours have white, and they, as well
as the martins, live in the woods.

The Nightingale differs in nothing from ours

an refpect to its fhape or plumage, unlefs that

it has the bill a little longer. But in this it is
particular that it is not fhy, and fings thro’ the
Whole year, tho’ rarely. It is very ealy to en-
tice them to your roof, where it is impoffible for

the cats to reach them, by laying fomething for
them to eat upon a lath, with a piece of the
Whell of a gourd which ferves to hold their neft.

You may in that cafe depend upon their not
changing their habitation.

The Pofe is a bird that has a red and black

plumage. It has got that name perhaps be-

caule its colowr makes it look fomewhat old,

and

PRUs, Se aaa pa BN

ee i's

gg PAE ATS POR
and none but old ‘men are promoted to that dig-|
nity; or becaufe its notes are foft, feeble, and}
rare; ot laftly, becaufe they wanted a bird of}
that name in the colony, having two other kinds):
* gamed cardinals and bifhops. |

The Cardinal owes its name to the bright red}
of the feathers, and to a little cowl on the hind}
part of the head, which refembles that of the}
bifhop’s ornament, called a Camail. It is as large}
asa black-bird but not fo long. Its bill and!
toes are large, ftrong, and black. Its notes
are fo ftrong and piercing that they are only:
agreeable in the woods. It is remar kable
for laying up its winter provifion in the fum-
mer, and near a Paris bufhel of maiz has been
found in its retreat, artfully covered, firft with

ne Teawes, Ree then with fmall branches, with only
a little opening for the bird itfelf to enter.

The Bi/bop is a bird fmaller than the Lined
its plumage is a violet-coloured blue, and its
wings, which ferve it for a cope, are entirely
violet colour. Its notes are fo fweet, fo variable,
and tender, that thofe who have once heard it,

are apt to abateiin their praifes of the nightin-
gale. I had fuch great pleafure in hearing this
charming bird, that I left an oak ftanding ver)
a. ae nea

fT OW OG WISIAN A. “9s

gear my apartment, upon which he ufed to
‘come and perch, tho’ I very well knew, that
the tree, which ftood fingle, might be over-
turned by a blaft of wind, and fall upon my
/houfe to my great lofs.

The Humming Bird is not larger even with
its feathers than a large beetle. The colour of
its feathers is variable according to the light
\ they are expofed in ; in the fun they appear like

enamel upon a gold ground, which delights the
eyes. The longeft feathers of the wings of this
bird are not much more than half an inch long,
its bill is about the fame length, and pointed
jlike an awl; and-its tongue refembles a fowing
‘needle; its feet are like thofe of a large fly.
Motwithftanding its little fize, its flight is fo
rapid, that it is always heard before it be feen,
JAltho’ like the bee it fucks the flowers, it never
jrelts upon them, but fupports itfelf upon its
wings, and paffes from one flower -to another
with the rapidity of lightening. It isa rare
“thing to catch a humming bird alive; one of
my friends however had the happinefs to catch
jone. He had obferved it enter the flower of a con-
volvulus, and as it had quite buried itfelf to get
at the bottom, he run forwards, fhut the flower,
cut it from the ftalk, and carried off the bird a
| | prifoner.

96 RAE HIS HORM

prifoner. He could not however prevail upon it}
is toeat, andit died four days after.

|
i
\

"The Troniou is a fmall bird about the fize of al
{parrow ; its plumage is likewife the fame; but]
its beak is flenderer. Its notes feem to exprefs

its name.

%

The French fettlers raife in this province tur-|

; kies of the fame kind with thofe of France,
fowls, capons, &c. of an excellent tate. Th
pidgeons for their fine flavour and delicacy are
preferred by Europeans to thofe of any other
country. The Guiney Fowl is here delicious. |

In Louifiana we have two kinds of Silk Worms;

one was brought from France, the other is na:

tural to the country. I fhallenlarge upon ther
under the article of agriculture. a

_ The Tobacco Worm is a caterpillar of the fiz
and figure of a fk worm. It is of a fine fea
green colour, with rings of filver colour ; on it
rump it has a fting near a quarter of an incl
Jong. Thefe infe€&ts quickly do a great dealo
mifchief, therefore care is taken every day whil
the tobacco is rifing, to pick them off and. kil

re

them.

OF TL OUISIAMA: oy,

In fummer Caterpillars are fometimes found
upon the plants, but thefe infects are very rare
in the colony. Glow-worms are here the fame
as in France.

/
|
i

Butterflies are not near fo common as in
France; the confequence of there being fewer.
caterpillars; but they are of incomparable beau-
‘ty, and have the moft brilliant colours. In the
| meadows are to be feen black grafhoppers, which
jalmoft always walk, rarely leap, and ftill fel-
domer fly. They are about the fize of the fin-
}ger or thumb, and their head is fhaped fome-
what like that of a horfe. Their four fmall
wings are of a moft beautiful purple. Cats are
- fond of grathoppers.

Fa
The Bees of Louifiana lodge in the earth to fe-
jcure their honey from the ravages of the bears,
Some few indeed build their combs in the trunks

lof trees as in Europe; but by far the sreatelt
‘umber in the earth in the lofty forefts, where

the act feldom go.

"The Flies are of two kinds, one a yellowith
grown, as in France, and the other black.

ig. VOU al; EF ‘The

i

Qs THE HiSTORY™

| The Wa/ps in this country take up their
abode near the houfes where they-fmell vi¢tuals. |
Several French fettlers endeavoured to root them
out of their neighbourhood ; but I aéted other-
wife ; for reflecting, that no flies are to be feen
where the wafps frequent, I invited them by |
hanging up a piece of flefh in the air.

The Suick Stinger is along and yellowifh
fly, and it receives its name from its ftinging |
the moment it lights. The common flies of |
France are very common alfo in Lowifana.

The Cantharides, or Spani/o Flies, are Very |
numerots, and larger than in Europe; they are
of fuch an acidfiature, that if they but flightly
touch the fkin as they pafs, a pretty large blifter
inftantly rifes. Thefe flies live upon the leaves |

of the oak. re %

The Green Flies appear only every other yeary
and the natives fuperftitioufly look upon their
appearance asa prefage of a good crop. Itis |
a pity that the cattle are fo greatly molefted by |
them, that they cannot remain in the fields 4

“for they are extremely beautiful, and twice as

large as bees.
Bi

OF LOUISIANA. og

fire Flies are very commons when the night
is ferene they are fo very numerous, that if the
light they dart out were conftant, one might
fee as clearly.as in fine moonfhine.

The Fly Ants, which we fee, attach them-
felves to the flower of the acacia, and which
difappear when that flower is gone, do not pro-
ceed from the common ants. The fly-ants, tho’
fhaped like the other kind, are however longer

and larger. They have a fquare head; their.

colour is a brownifh red bordered with black;

they have four red and grey wings, and fly like.

common flies, which the other ants do not eveg
when they have wings.

The Dragon Flies are pretty numerous ; they
do not want to deftroy them becaufe they feed
upon Mofhites, which is one of the moft troubie=
fome kind of infects,

The Mofbitos are famous all over Ameriaa,
for their multitude, the troublefomenefs of their
buzzing, and the venom of their ftliags, which

oceafien an infupportable itching, and often

form fo many {mall ulcers, if the perfon tung
does not immediately put fome fpittle on the
wound. In open places they are lefs torment-
e 2 Ing $

mS

eo: oP ETH SITS RD

ing; but ftill they are troublefome; and the
beft way of driving them out of the houfes is
to burn a little brimftone in the mornings and
evenings. The fmoke of this infallibly kills
them, and the fmell keeps others away for fe-
veral days. An hour after the brimftone has
been burnt, the apartments may be fafely entered
into by men. :

By the fame means we may rid ourfelves of the
‘flies and mofkites, whofe fting is fo painful and fo |
frequent during the fhort time they fly about; |
for they do not rife till about fun-fet, and they
retire at night. This is not the cafe with the
Burning Fly. Thefe, tho’ not much larger
than the point of a pin, are infupportable to the
people who labour in the fields. They fy from
fun-rifing to fun-fetting, and the wounds they

give burn like fire.

The Lavert isan infet about an inch and a
quarter long, a little more than a quarter broad ;
and but the tenth part of an inch thick. It
enters the houfes by the fmalleft crevices, and
in the night time it falls upon difhes that are.
even peesare with a plate, which renders it.
very troublefome to thofe whofe houfes are only

built of wood. But they are fo relifhing to the |
cats,

OF LOWISIAN A. tot

cats, that thefe laft quit every thing to fall
upon them wherever they perceive them. When
_ anew fettler has once cleared the ground about
his houfe, and is at fome Nance from the
woods, he is quickly freed from them. ‘
In Louifiana there are white ants, which feera

to love dead wood. Perfons who have been in
the Eaft Indies have affured me, that they are
| quite like thofe which in that country are called

~Cancarla, and that they would eat thro’ glafs,
which I never had the experience of. There

} are in Lowi ifiana, as in France, red, black, and
|

#yiDg ants.

$

a

102’ (“THE HISTORY

CHAP. Vil.
Of Fifbes and Shell-Fih.

SHO’ there is an incredible quantity of |
H fithes in this country, I fhall however be |
very concife in my account of them; becaufe
during my abode in the country they were not
fufficiently known; and the people were not
experienced enough j in the art of catching them. |
The moft of the rivers being very deep, and the
Mififipi, as Thave mentioned, being between ©
thirty-eight and forty fathoms, from its mouth |
to the fall of St. 4ntheny, it may be eafily con-
ceived that the inftruments ufed for fifhing in
France, cannot be of any ufe in Louifiana, be-
caufe they cannot go to the bottom of the ri<
vers, or at leaft fo deep as to prevent the fil
from efcaping. The line therefore can be only
ufed, andit is with it they catch all the fifh that -
are eaten by the fettlers upon the river. I pros
ceed to an account of thofe fh.

Age £ hy

The Barbel is of two forts, the large and the -
{mall. The firft is about four feet long, and
‘the {malle& of this fort that is ever feen is two |
feet long, the young ones doubtlefs keeping at |
the bottom of the water. “This Kind b has a very |

ry
OF LOUISIANA. 109

farge head, and a round body, which gradually
_Jeflens towards the tail, The fith has no fcales,

nor any bones, excepting that of the middle:

its eth is very good and delicate, but in a {mall
_ degree very infipid, which is eafily remedied ; in

other refpects it eats very like the freth cod of

the country.

The fmall is from a foot to two feet in

} length. Its head is fhaped like that of the other
kind; butits body is not fo round nor fo point-

ed at the tail,

The Carp of the river Mifi/ipi is. srontitous.

None are feen under two feet long ; and many

are met with three and four feet in length. The

carps are not fo very good in the lower part of
‘the river; but the higher one goes the finer
they are, on account of the plenty of fand in
“thofe parts. A great number of carps ate car-
ried into the lakes that are filled by the over-

flowing of the river, and in thofe lakes they are
found of all fizes, in great abundance, and of a
better relifh than thofe of the river.

‘The Burgo-Breaker is an excellent fith ; it is

| ufvally a foot and a foot and a half long: it is
| round with gold-coloured fcales. In its throat

PKR E-4 it

iog 4TyHyE HS TOR ky

it has two bones with a furface like that of a file
to break the fhell-fifh named Burgo. Tho’ de-
licate itis neverthelefs very firm. It is beft
when not much boiled. :

rv

The Ring-Skate is found in the river up as
far as New Orleans, butno higher. It is very
good, and no way tough. In other refpects it |
is exactly like that of France.

a)

The Spatula is fo called, becaufe from its
fnout a fubftance extends about a foot in length
in the form of an apothecary’s fpatula. This
fifh, which is about two feet in length, is nei- |
ther round or flat, but fquare, having at its fides
and in the under part bones that form an angle
like thofe of the back.

h

No Pikes are caught above a foot and a half
long. As this is a voracious fifth, perhaps the
armed-fifh purfues it, both from jealoufy and ap- |
petite, The pike befides being fmall is very rare.

F (
Fe

The Choupic is a very beautiful fifh; many
people miftake it for the trout, as it takes a fly |
in the fame manner. But it is very cite
trom the trout, as it prefers muddy and dead wae
ter to a clear ftream, and its flefh is fo foft. that

it is only good when fried. ea

ratchet LEN i oan as rae epee Rha ee ASHP

i

OF LOUISIANA. nog

The Sardine or fmall Pilchard of the river.
Mififipi, is about three or four fingers im
breadth, and between fix and feven inches long;.
it is good and delicate. One year I falted about
the quantity of forty pints of them, and all the.
French who eat of them acknowledged them to
be /ardines from their flefh, their bones, and their
tafte. They appear only for a fhort feafon, and
are caught by the natives, when {wimming’
again{t the ftrongeft current, with nets made
for that purpofe only.

The Pataffa, fo called by the natives for its

fiatnefs, is the roach or frefh-water mullet of
this country..

The 4rmed-Fi/h has. its name from its arms,
and its fcaly mail. Its arms are its very fharp.
teeth about the tenth of an inch in diameter,,
and as much diftant from each other, and near
half an inch long. The interval. of the larger:
teeth is filled with fhorter teeth. Thefe arms
are a proof of its voracity. Its mail is nothing
but its {cales, which are white, as hard as ivory):
and about the, tenth of an inch im thicknefgo
They, are near an inch long, about half as muely
in breadth, end in a point, and have two.cutting.
fides, - There are two ranges of them down the
get fhaped exactly. like the head of a fpon!

a F 5 toon,.

106 THE HISTORY
toon, aud oppofite to the point the fcale has a
little thank, about three tenths of an inch long,
which the natives infert into the end of their
arrows, making the fcale ferve for a head. The
fleth of this fifh is hard and not relifhing.

¢ ¥ | }

There area great number of Hels in the river
Mififipi, and very large ones are found in all the
rivers and creeks. | : ye

“The whole lower part of the river abounds. 7
in Crayfifb. Upon my firft arrival in the colony
the ground was covered with litle hillocs,.
about fix or feven inches high, which the Grays”
jib had made for taking the air out of the wa=
ter ; but fince dikes have been raifed for keep~ —
ing off the river from the low grounds, they. «
‘no longer fhew themfelves. Whenever they
are wanted they fith for them with the leg ofa,
frog, and in afew moments they will catch a |
large dith of them. ftper sted ‘| |

i

The Shrimps are diminutive Grayfi/h; they are
ufually about three inches long, and of the fize |
of the little finger. Altho’ in other countries —
they are generally found in the fea only, yet in |
Louifiana you will meet with great numbers of
| them more than an hundred leagues up the rivers
> Amthe lake SA Louis, about two leagues from. |
a | New

"
a |
KA

aie

[

OF LOUTSITANA. 167
New Orleans, the waters. of which having a com-
munication with the fea, are fomewhat brackifh,
are found feveral forts both of fea fifh, and freth
water fifh. As the bottom of the lake is very
level, they fifh in it with large nets lately brought’
from France. |

Near the Jake when we pafs by the outlets to:
the fea, and continue along the coafts, we meet
with {mall cyfters in great abundance, that are’
very well tafted. On the other hand, when we
quit the lake by another lake that communicates-
with one of the mouths of the river, we meet
with oyfters four.or five inches: broad, and fix.
or feven long. Thefe large oyfters eat beft:
fried, having hardly any faltnefs, but in other
refpects are large and delicate.

Having fpoken of the oyfters of Louifiana, 1!
fhall take fome notice of the oyfters that are:
found on the trees at St. Domingo. When I
arrived at the harbour of Cafe Francois in my
way to Louzfiana, I was:much furprized to fee
oyfters hanging to the branches of fome fhrubs ;°
but M. Chanieau, who was our fecond captain,
explained the phenomenon tome. According”
to him, the twigs of the firubs are bent down
high water to the very bottom of the fhore, when--
ever the-fea is any ways agitated, The-oyfters-

| F: 6 in:

_— i FO

z

robe! See. Bo Ee icSe Th Ge: Rak

in that place no fooner feel the twigs than they _
lay hold of them, and when the fea retires they
appear fufpended upon them.

Towards the mouths of the river we meet
with muffels no falter than the large oyfters
above-mentioned ; and this is owing to the wa-
ter being only brackifh in thofe parts, as the ris |
ver there empties itfelf by three large mouths,
and five other fmall ones, befides feveral fhort —
creeks, which all together throw at once an im-
menfe quantity of water into the fea; the whole _
marfhy ground occupies an extent of ten or
twelve leagues. .

There are likewife excellent muffels upon the
northern fhore of the lake St. Louis, efpecially i in
the river of Pearls; they may be about fix or
feven inches long, and fometimes contain pretty

large pearls, but of no great value.

‘

--. "The largeft of the fhell-fifh on the coaft is the.
Burgo, well known in France. There is another:
4th much fmaller and of a different fhape. Its.
hollow fhell is {trong and beautiful, and the flat
one is generally black ; {ome blue ones are found
and are much efteemed. Thefe fhells have long. |
been in requelt for tobacco-boxes. 7

| | Tae Ea
a

a iene aoe ei
aeetied = ~ " See eee eat

i 109 J

HISTORY

Pours Ts Ns:

BOOK Tv.

a

PEAS. oul.
The origin of the Americans.

HE remarkable difference I obferved be~
TT tween the Watches, including in thar
name the nations whom they treat as brethren,.
and the other people of Louifiana, made me ex-
_ tremely defirous to know whence both of them
might originally come. We had not then that

full information which we have fince regnived
from the voyages and difcoveries of M. De Li/le
iB

bie

Wenner ares ae Vian so gait gc ann gly aa ee ec

5

ee SOE NSF ORY

in the eaftern parts of the Ruffian empire. t-|
therefore applied myfelf one day to put the
keeper of the temple in good humour, and hav- |
ing fucceeded in that without much difficulty,. |
I. then told him, that from the little refemblance’ |
Lobferved between the Natches and the neigh-- |
bouring nations, I was inclined to believe that: |
they were not originally of the country which. |
they then inhabited‘; and tivat if the ancient: |
fpeech taught him any thing on that fabject, he: |
would do me agreat pleafure to inform me of it. |
At thefe words he leaned his Head on his two |
‘hands, with which he covered his. eyes, and
having remained in that pofture about a quar-.
ter of an hour, as if to-recollect himfelf,. he
~ anfwered to-the following effect. .

‘© Before we came. into shis-lamal“tee lived‘
yonder under the fun, (pointing with his finger: :
nearly fouth weft, by which I underftood that
he meant: Mexico); we lived in a fine country: |
where the earth is always pleafant;.there our:
Suns had their abode, and our nation maintain- |
ed itfelf for a long time againft the ancients of |
the country, who conquered fome of our villages: :
in the plains, but never could force us from the
mountains. Our nation extended itfelf along
the preat water where this large river lofes. ite |

rs , . 4 ete

OF LOUISIANA tre
"elf ; but as our enemies were become very nu-
“merous, and very wicked, our Suns fent {ome
of their fubjeéts who lived near this river, to:
‘examine whether we could retire into the coun-
try thro’ which it flowed. The country on the:
eaft fide of the river being found extremely
pleafant, the Great Sun, upon the return of
| thofe who had examined it, ordered all his fub-
} je&ts who lived in the plains, and who ftill de-
| fended themfelves againft the antients of the
| country, to remove into this land, here to.
| build a temple, and to preferve the eternal fire...

« A great part of our nation accordingly
fettled here, where they lived in peace and
| abundance for feveral generations.. The Great
Sun, and thofe who had remained with him, ne--
|-ver thought of joining us, being tempted to
: _ continue where they were by the pleafantnefs of
| the country, which was very warm, and by the
_ weaknefs of their enemies who had fallen into”
civil diffentions, in confequence of the ambition
of one of their chiefs, who wanted to raife him-
fel from a ftate of equality with the other chiefs
of the villages, and to treat all the people of his
nation as flaves, During thofe difcords among
our enemies, fome of them even entered into an
alliance with the Great Sun, who ftill remained

= She

im

ale ‘

a2:
ae EO ce Tele CL ab EE

the Great Suns came and joined us in this coun-|

é Sears —— ee er oe sng Be.

12 THE HIS FOR ¥-

in our old country, that he might conveniently}
affift our other brethren who had fettled on the}. {
banks of the great water to the eaft of the large
river, and extended themfelves fo far on the}
coaftand among the ifles, that theGreat Sun did |,
not hear of them fometimes for five or fix. years |
together.. PA. |

‘« Tt was not till after many generations that |

try, where, from the fine climate, and the peace |
we had enjoyed, we had multiplied like the,
leaves of the trees. Warriors of fire who made
the earth to tremble, had arrived in our old’.
country, and having entered into an alliance:
with our brethren, comquered our ancient ene-
mies; but attempting afterwards to make flaves
of our Suns, they, rather than fubmit to them,

Teft our brethren who refufed to follow Gor t
and came hither attended only with their faves.”

~

Upon my afking him who thofe warriors. of
fire were, he replied, that they were bearded.
white men, fomewhat of a brownifh colour,
who carried arms that darted out fire with
great noife, and killed at a great diftance ; that
they had likewife heavy arms which killed a
great many men at once, and like thunder mz

OF LOUISIANA. 173

the earth tremble; and that they came from
the fun-rifing in floating villages.

The antients of the country he faid were very
‘numerous, and inhabited from the weftern
coaft of the great water to the northern coun-
‘tries on this fide the fun, and very far upon the
fame coaft beyond the fun. They had a great
‘number of large and fmall villages, which were
all built of ftone, and in which there were

| honfes large enough to lodge a whole village.

‘Their temples were built with great labour and
art, and they made beautiful works of all kinds

1 of materials.

But ye yourfelves, {aid I, whence are ye come?
The ancient fpeech, he replied, does not fay
from what land we came ; all that we know is,
that our fathers, to come hither, followed the
fun, and came with him from the place where

he rifes; that they were a long time on their

journey, were all on the point of perifhing, and
were brought into this country without feek-
ing it. ;

To this account of the keeper of the temple,

-which was afterwards confirmed to me by the
Great Sun, I fhall add the following paffage of

Diodorus

2g THE BIST ORR TH]
Diodorus Siculus, which feems to confirm the,
opinion of thofe who think the eaftern Ameri '
cans are defcended from the Ewropeans, who may}

have been driven by the winds upon the coal,
of Guiana or Brafi. i, |

** To the weft of Africa, he ri lies a Ve
large ifand, diftant many days {ail from that part
of our continent. Its fertile {oil is partly plain:
and partly mountainous. The plain country is:
moft fweet and pleafant, being watered every.
where with rivulets, and navigable rivers ;: =i
beautified with many gardens which are plant!
ed with all kinds of tees, and the orchards
particularly are watered with pleafant ftreams.'
‘The villages are adorned with houfes built in a
magnificent tafte, having parterres ornamented:
with arbours covered with flowers. Hither the
inhabitants retire during the fummer to enjoy:
the fruits which the country furnifhes them
with in the greateft abundance. ‘The moun:
tainous part is covered with large woods, and.
all manner of fruit trees, and in the. vallies,
which are watered with rivulets, the. inhabi-’

tants meet with every thing that can render life
agreeable, In aword, the whole ifland, by its
fertility and: the abundance of its fprings, fur-'
aifhes the inhabitants not only with every thing

| that

|
|

OF LOUISIANA. rg

that may flatter their wifhes, but with what
may alfo contribute to their health and firength
of body. Hunting furnifhes them with fuch
an infinite number of animals, that in their
feafts they have nothing to with for in regard
either to plenty or delicacy. Befides, the fea,
which furrounds the ifland, fupplies them plen-
tifully with all kinds of fifh, and indeed the fea
in general is very abundant. The air of this
ifland is fo temperate that the trees bear leaves

jand fruit almoft the whole year round. Ina
word, this ifland is fo delicious, that it {eems
\rather the abode of the gods than of men.

_« Anciently, on account of its remote fitua-
, tion, it was altogether unknown; but afterwards |
it was difcovered by accident. It is well known
that from the earlieft ages the Phenicians un-
dertook long voyages in order to extend their

commerce, and in confequence of thofe voyages

eftablifhed feveral colonies in dfrica and the
weftern parts of Europe. Every thing facceed-

|) ing to their with, and being become very

powerful, they attempted to pals the pillars of

Hercules and enter the ocean. They acccord-
| ingly paffed thofe pillars, and in their neigh-

bourhood builta city upon a peninfula of Spain,

owhich they named Gades. There, amongft the

other

1

+

we STV EHS YO ROY ||
other buildings proper for the place, they buil|
a temple to Hercules, to whom they inftitute/
iplendid facrifices after the manner of oil
country. This temple is in great veneration al
this day, and feveral Romans who have renderel |
themfelves illuftrious by their exploits, havl
‘performed their vows to Hercules for the fue
cefs of their enterprizes. |

H
1

if

Mi)
hl
fi
|

a

4 The Phenicians accordingly having pallec

the Streights of Spain, failed along 4frica, wher
by the violence of the winds they were driver
far out to fea, and the form continuing fere.
ral days, they were at length thrown on thi:
ifland. Being the firft who were acquaintec,
with its beauty and fertility, they publifhec
them to other nations. The Tu/cans, when
“they were matters at fea, defi ened to fend a
colony thither, but the Carthaginians found
means to prevent them on the two following |
accounts ; firft, they were afraid left their citi-
zens, tempted by the charms of that ifland, fhould
pals over thither in too great numbers, and defert
their own country; next they looked upon it
as afecure afylum for themfelves, if ever any.

terrible difafter fhould befal their republic.”* af

Pad
a

- This!

a -¥i

OF LOUISIANA. 117:

| This defcription of Diedorus is very applicable
i, many circumftances to America, particularly
i. the agreeable temperature of the climate to
fricans, the prodigious fertility of the earth,
ae vaft forefts, the large rivers, and the mul-
tude of rivulets and fprings. The Natches /
hay then juftly be fuppofed to be defcended
om fome Phenicians or Carthaginians, who
ad been wrecked on the fhores of South Ame-
ica, in which cafe they might well be imagin-
i to have but little acquaintance with the arts,
|; thofe who firft landed would be obliged to
Jpply all their thoughts to their immediate fub-

bi

|ftence, and confequently would foon become
ade and barbarous. Their worfhip of the eter-.
al fire likewife implies their defcent from the,
‘henicians ; for every body knows that this fu-
erftition, which firft took its rife in Egy#t,
ras introduced by the Phenicians into all the
ountries that they vifited. The figurative
‘ile, and the bold and Syriac expreffions in the
inguage of the Watches, is likewife another
roof of their being defcended from the Phe-
Juians *.

* The author might have mentioned a fingular cuftom, in
‘hich both nations agree 3 for it appears from Polybias, 1,1,
. 6, that the Carthaginians practifed {calping.

i

As

eR eae epe R Saeiie snen ener eae

318) THE HIST oO HY

“Asto thofe whom the Natches, long afte]
their firft eftablithment, found inhabiting thi!
weftern coafts of America, and whom we nam/
Mexicans, the arts which they poffeffed an(’
cultivated with fuccefs, oblige me to give then!
a different origin. Their temples, their facil
fices; their buildings, their form of government
and their manner of making war, all denote?
people who have tranfmigrated in a body, ant
brought with them the arts, the fciences, ant
the cuftoms of their country. Thofe pede
had the art of writing, and alfo of painting’
Their archives <onfifted of cloths of cotton’
whereon they had painted or drawn all thof
tranfactions which they thought worthy of be
ing tranfmitted to pufterity. It were greatl
to be wifhed that the firft conquerors of thi
new world had preferved to us. the figures c
thofe drawings; for by comparing them wit’
the characters ufed by other nations, we migh
perhaps have difcovered the origin of the inka’
bitants. ‘The knowledge which we have of th’
Chinefe charaters, which are rather irregule
drawings than characters, would probably hav’
facilitated fuch a difcovery ; and perhaps tho!’
of Japan would have been found greatly to hav
refembled the Mexican; for I am io oe
opinion that the Mexicans are defcended op

Gne of thofe two nations.
A

ty

|

:
]
u

|

;
|
ri
‘

OF LOUISIANA. tig

In fa&t; where is the impoffibility, that fome
wince in one of thofe countries, upon failing

jn an attempt to raife himfelf to the fovereion
Pp g

vower, fhould leave his native country with all
lis partizans, and look for fome new land,
vhere, after he had eftablifhed -himfelf, he
aight drop all foreign correfpondence? The

jafy navigation of the South-Sea renders the

hing probable; and the new map of the eaft-

rn bounds of 4fa, and the weftern of North
\4merica,. \ately publithed by Mr. De Lifle,
Jnakes it ftill more likely. This map makes it

plainly appear, that between the iflands of 7a-
‘an, or northern coafts of China, and thofe of

merica, there are other lands which to this

lay have remained unknown; and who will
jakeupon him to fay there is no land, becaufe

t has never yet been difcovered ? I have there-
ore good grounds to believe, that the Mexicans
tame originally from China or Fapan, efpecially
when I confider their referved and uncommuni-
rative difpofition, which to this day prevails
umong the people of the eaftern parts of fa.
The great antiquity of the Chine/e nation like-

wife makes it poffible that a colony might have
gone from thence to America early enough to
be looked upon as the Antients of the country,
_by the firft of the Phenicians who could be fup-

poled

Pa

wa ATIVE A EST Rs

pofed to arrive there. Asa further corrobora
tion of my conjectures, I was informed by al’
man of learning in 1752, that in the king's
library there is a C/inefe manufcript, which po-|
fitively affirms that America was peopled by
the inhabitants of Corea.

When the Watches retired to this part 0 0!
America, where I faw them, they there Fontnal i
feveral nations, or rather the remains of ce
nations, fome on the eaft, others on the weft
of the Mififiti. Thefe are the people who are!
diftinguifhed among the natives by the name off
Red Men; and their origin is fo much the more
obfcure, as they have not fo diftin@ a tradition’

as the Natches, nor arts and {ciences like the
Mexicans, from whence we might draw fome'

- fatisfactory inferences, All that I could learn’

from them was, that they came from between’

the north and the fun-fetting; and this account
they uniformly adhered to whenever they gave
any account of their origin. This lame tra-
dition no ways fatisfying the defire I had to be
informed on this point, I made great inquiries
to know if there was any wife old man among.
the neighbouring nations, who could give me’

further intelligence about the origin of the na-,

tives. I was happy enough to difcover one,
5 named

q

OF LOUISIANA. rat

: named Moncacht-afé among the Yazous,a nation
about forty leagues north from the Matches.
‘This man was remarkable for his folid under-
‘Nanding and elevation of fentiments; and F

(may juftly compare him to thofe firft Greehy,
| who travelled chiefly into the eaft to examine

the manners and cuftoms of different nations,
and to communicate to their fellow-citizens
‘upon their return the knowledge which they
had acquired. Moncacht-apé indeed, never exe-
cuted fo noblea plan; but he had however

|conceived it, and had fpared no labour and

pains to effeCtuate it. He was by the French

\called the Interpreter, becaufe he underftood
jfeveral of the North American languages; but
jthe other name which I have mentioned was

given him by his own nation, and fignifies the
killer of pain and fatigue, ‘This name was in-
deed moft juftly applicable to him; for, to fa-
isfy his curiofity, he had made light of the
moft dangerous and painful journeys, in which
he had fpent feveral years of his life. He flay-
ed two or three days with me; and upon my
defiring him to give me an account of his tra-

/vels, he very readily complied with my requeit,

and {poke to the following effect ;

=

Vou. Ul. G «

ex

was TRE Has TOR TY oes
« [had loft my wife, and all the children |
whom I had by her, when I undertook my | H
ie journey towards the fun-rifing. I fet out from
my village contrary to the inclination of all my.
relations, and went firft to the Chicafaws, our: i
friends and neighbours. I continued among !
them feveral days toinform myfelf whether ne | |
knew whence we all came, or at leaft whence
- they themfelves came ; they, who were our eld-
ers ; fince from them came the language of the l
country. As they could not inform me, I pr O- |:
ceeded on my journey. I reached the country
of the Chaouanous, and afterwards went up the.
Wabafb or Ohio, almoft to its fource, which is
in the country of the Jroquois or Five Nations.
1 left them however towards the north; and
during the winter, which in that country is.
very fevere and very long, I lived in a village
of the Abenaguis, where I contracted an ace t
eas with a man fomewhat older than . '
myfelf, who promifed to conduét me the fol-
lowing fpring to the Great Water. Accordingly 4 2
when the faows were melted, and the weather
was fettled, we proceeded eaftward, and, after
feveral days journey, I at length faw the Great.
Water, which filled me with fuch joy and 4
miration that I could: not fpeak. Night draw:

-- 4pg on, we took up our lodging ona high bank
abov |

;
it
|
|

w OF LO@ISIANA. 193

above the water, which was forely vexed by
the wind, and made fo great a noife that I

_ could not fleep. Next day the ebbing and flow-

ing of the water filled me with great appre-
‘henfion; but my companion quieted my fears,
by affuring me that the water obferved certain
bounds both in advancing and retiring. Hav-
ing fatisfied our curiofity in viewing the great wa-
ter, we returned to the village of the Abenaquis,
where I continued the following winter; and
after the {nows were melted, my companion and
I went and viewed the great fall of the river
St. Laurence at Niagara, which was diftant
from the village feveral days journey. The
view of this great fall at firft made my hair
ftand on end, and my heart almoft leap out of
its place; but afterwards, before I left it, I had
the courage to walk under it. Next day we
took the fhorteft road to the Osi, and my com-
panion and I cutting down a tree on the banks
of the river, we formed it into a pettiaugre,

}) which ferved to conduét me down the Ohio and
the Mififipi, after which, with much difficulty, |

Twent up our {mall river ; and at length arrived
fafe among my relations, whe were rejoiced to
fee me in good health.”

re 2 “This

yak Tee a SOE ORY
< This journey, inftead of fatisfying, only
ferved to excite my curiofity. Our old men,
for feveral years, had told me that the antient
fpeech informed them that the Red, Men of the

north came originally much higher and much |
farther than the fource of the river Miffouri ;
and as I had longed to fee, with my own eyes,
the land from whence our firft fathers came, I
took my precautions for my journey weftwards.
Having provided a {mall quantity of corn, I
roceeded up along the eaftern bank of the ri-
ver Mifisipi, till I came to the Ohio. 1 went
up along the bank of this laft river about the
fourth part of a day’s journey, that I might be
able to crofs it without being carried into the

Miffifipt. There I formed a Cajeux or raft of s
‘canes, by the affiftance of which I patled over
next day meeting with a herd of

the river; and
bufaloes in the meadows, I killed a fat one,
and took from it the fillets, the bunch, and the,
tongue. Soon after! arrived among the Zama-
roas, a village of the nation of the Jnas,
where Lrefted feveral days, and then proceed-
ed northwards to the mouth of the Mifouri,
which, after it,enters the great river, fuls|))
for a confiderable time without intermixing ifs
muddy waters with the clear ftream of the other.

Having, crofled the Miffi/ip:, I went up the Mi-
foure

OF LOUISIANA. 125

furi along its northern bank, and after feveral

days journey I arrived at the nation of the Mi/-
fouris, where I ftaid a long time to learn the
Janguage that is fpoken beyond them. In go-
ing along the Miffouri 1 paffed thro’ meadows
a whole day’s journey in length, which were
quite covered with bufaloes.

«¢ When the cold was paft, and the fnows
were melted, I continued my journey up along
the Mifouri till I came to the nation of the
Weft, or the Canzas. Afterwards, in confe-
quence of direftions from them, I proceeded
in the fame courfe near thirty days, and at
length I met with fome of the nation of the
Otters, *who were hunting in that neighbour-
hood, and were furprifed to fee me alone. 1
continued with the hunters two or three days,
and then accompanied one of them and his
wife, who was near her time of lying in, to

their village, which lay far off betwixt the north

and weft, We continued our journey along the
Miffouri for nine days, and then we marched
directly northwards for five days more, when

“we came to the Fine River, which runs welt-

wards in a direCtion contrary to that of the
Miffouri. We proceeded down this river a
whole day, and then arrived at the village of

G 3 the

Pics Sr

ra :

= Sa a A AA a a

136 OT RE HISTORY

the Otters, who received me with as much i
kindnefs as if I had been of their own nation,
A few days after I joined a party of the Otters, —
who were going to carry a calumet of peace to _
@nation beyond them, and we embarked in a
pettiangre, and went down the river for eigh-
teen days, landing now and then to fupply our-
{elves with provifions. When I arrived at the ©
mation who were at peace with the Ofters, I
ftaid with them till the cold was paffed, that I
might learn their language, which was com-
snon to moft of the nations that lived beyond
them.

« The cold was hardly gonc when I again em-
barked on the Fine River, and in my courfe I a
met with feveral nations, with whom I gene-
rally ftaid but one night, till I arrived at the ~
nation that is but one day’s journey from the
Great Water on the weft. This nation live in
the woods about the diftance of a league from
the river, from their apprehenfion of bearded
men, who come upon their coafts in floating vil-
lages, and carry off their children to make flaves_ |

~of them. Thefe men were defcribed to be |

white, with long black beards that came down —
to their breafts; they were thick and fhort, —
had large heads, which were covered with cloth; ©
they

OFOLOUESTANA. “127

‘they were always dreffed, even in the greateft
heats; their cloaths fell down to the middle of
their legs, which with their feet were covered
- with red or yellow ftuff. Their arms made a
great fire anda great noife; and when they
_faw themfelves out-numbered by Red Men, they
retired on board their large pettiaugre, their
number fometimes amounting to thirty, but
never more.

Thofe ftrangers came from the fun-fetting, in
fearch of a yellow ftinking wood, which dyes a
fine yellow colour ; but the people of this na-
tion, that they might not be tempted to vifit
them, had deftroyed all thofe kind of trees.
Two other nations in their neighbourhood
however, having no other wood, could not
deftroy the trees, and were ftill vifited by the
{trangers; and being greatly incommoded by
them, had invited their allies to aflift them in
making an attack upon them the next time they
fhould return. The following fummer 1 ac-
cordingly joined in this expedition, and after
travelling five long days journey, we came to
the place where the bearded men ufually land-.
ed, where we waited feventeen days for their
arrival. The Red Men, by my advice, placed
themfelves in ambufcade to furprife the ftran-
- G4 gers,

THE Vani Ry
gers, and accordingly when they landed to cut

_ the wood, we. were fo fuccefsful as to kill
_ eleven of them, the reft unmediately efcaping
on board two large pettiaugres, and flying weft-
ward upon the Great Water.

128

“Upon examining thofe whom we had killed,
we found them much {fmaller than ourfelves,
and very white; they had a large head, and in
the middle of the crown the hair was very
Jong; their head was wrapt in a great many
folds of ftuff, and their cloaths feemed to be
made neither of wool nar filk ; they were very
foft, and of different colours. Two only of the
eleven who were flain had fire-arms with pow-
der and ball. Itried their pieces, and found
that they were much heavier than yours, and
did not kill at fo great a diftance,

“* After this expedition I ‘thought of nb-
thing but proceeding on my journey, and with
that defign I let the Red Men return home, and

_ joined myfelf to thofe who inhabited more weft-
ward on the coaft, with whom I travelled along i
the fhore of the Great Water, which bends di-
rectly betwixt the north and the fun-ftting,
When I arrived at the villages of my fellow-
travellers, where I found the days very long

and

OF L-OUTSLAN A. 129

and the nights very fhort, I was advifed by the
old men to give over all thoughts of continu-
‘ing my journey. They told me that the land
extended fill a long way in:a direCtion between
the north and fun-fetting, after which it ran
direétly weft, and at length was cut by the
Great Water from-north to fouth. One of
them added, that when he was young, he knew

-avery-old man who had feen that diftant land
_hefere it was eat away by the Great Water, and
that when the Great Water was low, many rocks
} ftill appeared in thofe parts. Finding it there-

fore impracticable to proceed much further, on

account of the feveriry of the climate, .and the
_want of game, I returned by the fame route
| by which I had fetout ; and reducing-my whole
travels weftward to days journeys, i-compute
that they would have employed me -thirty-fix
_moons; but on acconnt of my frequent delays,
| it was five years before I-returned to my rela-
_ tions among the Yazous.”

his travels, {pent four or five days vifiting among
the Natches, and then returned to take leave
of me, when I made him a prefent of feveral
wares of no great value, among which was a
concave mirror about two inches and a half di-

Ge aS Se eal Ae Mae hs ameter,

Moncacht-apé, after giving me an account of

SSRN nase onsen meine acim Seam Na

[oA ATE NEON RE LOOT TI

Da ee er ene oe eer eae SN ae

1 andor ha cecenorrectetneeneia sh Septet nates

yo THE HISTORY

ameter, which had coft me about three half-
pence. As this magnified the face to four or
five time its natural fize, he was wonderfully
delighted with it, and would not have ex- |
changed it with the beft mirror in France. Af- |
ter expreffing his regret at parting with me, he

returned highly fatisfied to his own nation. — 4

aa

Moncacht-afé’s account of the junction of
America with the eaftern parts of fia feems
confirmed from the following remarkable fact.
Some years ago the fkeletons of two large ele-
phants and two {mall ones were difcovered in a
marth near the river Ohio; and as they were not
much confumed, it is fuppofed that the ele-
phants came from 4fa not many years before. ,
If we alfo confider the form of government, and
the manner of living among the northern na-
tions of America, there will appear a great re- ,
femblance betwixt them and the Tartars in the |
north-eaft partsof dfia. - :

| before it was difcovered by Chriftopher Colume-

| nent, but alfo in the iflands.

OF LOUISIANA.

< © Ti 8) P.. I.

An account of the feveral nations of Tn-
dians iz Louifiana.

ee

| Bib OC, Bop

Of the nations inbabiting on the eaf a
| ‘the Miffifipi. -

| WF tothe hiftory of the difcoveries and con-

] quefts of the Spaniards we join the tradi-
tion of all the nations of America, we thall be
fully perfuaded, that this quarter of theworld, | ~

bus, was very populous, not only on the conti-

ALE

However, by an incomprehenfible fatality,
the arrival of the Shaniards in this new world
feems to have been the unhappy epoch of the
, deftruétion of all the nations of America, not

only by war, but a nature itfelf, As it is but
“GO” too

{2 “THE HISTORY
too. well known, how many millions of natives |.
were deftroyed by the Spani/b fword, I fhall |

not therefore prefent my readers with that |.

horrible detail; but perhaps many people do |
not Know that an innumerable multitude of the |

natives of Mexico and Pers voluntarily put an
: end to their own lives, fome by facrificing |;
themfelves to the manes of their fovereigns }
who had been cut off, and whofe born victims
they, according to their deteftable cuftoms,
looked upon themfelves to be; and others, to
®, avoid falling under the fubjection of the Spa- !
-niards, thinking death a lefs evil by far than
flavery. 2 | |

Mi
Ny

]

_ The fame effet has been produced among |

the people of North America by two or three)
warlike nations of the natives. The Chica-,

faws have not only cut off a great many na-

' tions who were adjoining to them, but have,
even carried their fury as far as New Mexico, ;
near 600 miles from the place of their refi- |
dence, to root out a nation that had removed |
-at that diftance from them, in a firm expecta: ,
tion that their enemies would not come fo far
in fearch of them. They were however de-
ceived and cutoff. The Iroquois have done the,
fame.

~e |

OF LOUISIANA. 133

‘fame in the eaft parts of Louifiana; and the

Padoucas and others have acted in the fame
manner to the nations in the weft of the colo-
ny. We may here obferve that thofe nations
could not fucceed againft their enemies without
confiderable lofs to themfelves, and that they
have therefore greatly lefflened their own num-
bers by their many warlike expeditions,

‘J mentioned that nature-had contributed ne
jefs than war to the deftruétion of thefe peo-
ple. Two diftempers that are not very fatal
in-other parts.of the world make dreadful ra-
vages among them ; I mefta the {mall-pox and
a cold, which baffle all the art of their phyfi-
cians, who in other refpects are very fkilful,
When a nation is attacked by the fmall-pox, it
quickly makes great havock; for as a whole fa-

_mily is crowded into a fmall hut, which has no

communication with the external air, but by a
door about two feet wide and four feet high,
the diftemper, if it feizes one, is quickly com-
municated to all, The aged die in confequence
of their advanced years and the ‘bad quality of
their food; and the young, if they are not
ftri€tly watched, deftroy themfelves, from an
abhorrence of the blotches in their fkin. IE
they

14 ME MLS DOR eee

being naturally not very handfome, are not fo
apt to regret the lofs of their beauty; confe-

rous than the other nations.

ter, likewife deftroy great numbers of the na-
tives. In that feafon they keep fires in their
huts day and night; and as there is no other
a opening but the door, the air within the hut is
kept exceflive warm without any free circula-

the cold feizes them, and the confequences of
it are almoft always fatal.

The firft nations that the French were ac-
quainted with in this part of North America,
were thofe on the eaft of the colony; for. the

account of the different nations of Jndians on.
this fide of the colony, and proceed weftwards
in the fame order as they are fituated.

_

5
“a
if

‘But

they can but efcape from their hut, they run
out and bathe themfelves in the river, which is |
certain death in that diftemper. The Chatkas, |

quently fuffer lefs, and are much more nume- |

Colds, which are very common in the win- |

tion; fo that when they have occafion to go out, .

firft fettlement we made there was at Fort Louis
on the river Mobile. fhall therefore begin my —

OF LOUISIANA. 135

‘But however zealous I may be in difplaying
not only the beauties, but the riches and ad-
vantages of Lowi/iana, yet I am not at all in-
clined to attribute to it what it does not polefs ;
therefore I warn my reader not to be furprifed,
if I make mention of a few nations in this colo-
ny, in comparifon of the great number which

this country. Thofe maps were made from
memoirs fent by different traveilers, who noted
down all the names they heard mentioned, and
then fixed upon a fpot for their refidence ; fo

| nations, many of whom were deftroyed, and
| others were refugees among nations who had
adopted them and taken them under their pro-
tection. Thus, tho’ the nations on this conti-
nent were formerly both numerous and popu-
lous, they are now fo thinned and diminifhed,
that there does not exift at prefent a third part
of the nations whofe names are to be found in
the maps. ,

4

The moft eaftern nation of Louifiana is that
called the 4palaches, which is a branch of the
great nation of the Apalaches, who inhabited
near the mountains to which they have given

) their

he may perhaps have feen in the firft maps of

that a map appeared filled with the names of

SN eS RRR RR ag NE Lr SREP

THE HISTORY.

their name. This great nation is divided imto |,
feveral branches, who take different names. |,
The branch in the neighbourhood of the river
Mobile is but inconfiderable, and - pant of it is |
Roman Catholic.

136

On the north of the 4falaches are the Al- |,
bamous, a pretty confiderable nation ; they ;
love the French, and receive the Engh/b rather |
out of neceffity than friendfhip. On the firft |
fettling of the colony we had fome commerce |
| with them; ‘but fince the main part of the co- |
ie Jony has fixed on the river, we have fomewhat |
: neglected them, on account of the great dif
tance. |

eee ||
1?

Eaft from the Alibamous are the Caouitas,
whom M. Biainville, governor of Louifiana,
wanted to diftinguith above the other nations,
by giving the title of emperor to their fovereign,
who then would have been chief of all the
neighbouring nations; but thofe nations re- |
fufed to acknowledge him as fuch, and faid ,
that it was enough if each nation obeyed its
own chief; that it was improper for the chiefs .
themfelves to be fubject to other chiefs, and |
that fuch a cuftom had never prevailed among
them,

19 lehman Ea I IN A SGA HVE OE Fe a oe ee

pa seeibasi

orem iadciegrenienatinion

OF LOUISIANA. 137
them, as they chofe rather to be deftroyed by a

| great nation than to be fubject to them, ‘This

‘nation is one of the moft confiderable; the

| Englifh trade with them, and they fuffer the
_ traders to come among them from policy.

"To the north of the 4zbamous afte the Aber

Ras and Conchacs, who, as far as I can learn,
are the fame people; yet the name of Conchac
_ feems appropriated to one part more than ano-
| ther. They are fituated at a diftance from the

| preat rivers, and confequently have no large
| canes in their territory. The canes that grow
-among them are not thicker than one’s finger,
vand are at the fame time fo very hard, that
when they are fplit they cut like knives, which

thefe people call Conchacs. The language of
this nation is almoft the fame with that of the

Chicafaws, in which the word conchae fignifies
_aknife.

The Abcikas, on the eaftof them, have the
Cherokees, divided into feveral branches, and fi-
‘uated very mear the falachean mountains.
All the nations whom I have mentioned have

‘been united in a general alliance for a long
time paft, in order to defend themfelves againft

the

SOREL ESA NEP alr ca ns ARP rasa

Le na RA ALORS ANI EN NTT RN

i198 APH Eo DP SyPio Rey

the Iroquois or Five Nations, who, before th
alliance was formed, made continual war upol'
them; but have ceafed to moleft them find,
they have feen them united. All thefe nation);
and fome {mall ones intermixed among them
have always been looked upon as belonging |
no colony, excepting the /palaches; but find,
the breaking out of the war with the Engli/p ij
1756, itis faid they have voluntarily declare)
for us. |

The nations in the neighbourhood of th
Mobile are firft the Chafots, a {mall nation cot,
fitting of about forty huts, adjoining to th
river and the fea. They are Roman Catholic.
or reputed fuch; and are friends to the Frente
whom they are always ready to ferve we,
ing paid for it. North from the Chatots, a '
very near them, is the French fettlement ¢
Fort Louis on the Mobile. ‘ i

A little north from Fort Louis are fituated tt,
Thomez, which are not more numerous than th
Chatots, and are faid to be Roman Cathalick,
They are our friends to fuch a degree as even |
teize us with their officioufnefs. i

Furth!
|

7

OF LOUISIANA. 139

| Further north live the Taenfas, who are a

‘ranch of the Natches, of whom I fhall have
\ecafion to {peak more at large. Both of thefe

ations keep the eternal fire with the utmoft
are; but they truft the guard of it to men,
rom a perfuafion that none of their daughters
vould facrifice their liberty for that office. The
vhole nation of the Taenfas confifts only of

) bout roo huts.

Proceeding ftill northwards along the bay,

ve meet with the nation of the Mobiliens, near

he mouth of the river Mobile, in the bay of

‘hat name. The true name of this nation is

Vouvill, which the French have turned into

| Mobile, calling the river and the bay from the

ation that inhabited near them. All thefe -

“imal nations were living in peace upon the ar-
) ival of the French, and ftill continue fo; the
‘nations on the eaft of the Mobile ferving asa
oarrier to them againft the incurfions of the
“Iroquois. Befides, the Chicafaws look upon
“them as their brethren, as both they, and their
‘neighbours on the eaft of the Mobile, fpeak a
anguage which is nearly the fame with that of
the Chicafaws.

| Returning

wo THE HISTORY

Returning towards the fea, on the wet
the Mobile, we find the fmall nation of |
Pacha-Ogoulas, that is, nation of bread, {||
ated upon the bay of the fame name, |
nation confifts only of one village of ab
thirty huts. Some French Canadians have ||
tled in their neighbourhood, and they live}
gether like brethren, as the Canadians,
are naturally of a peaceable difpofition, kt
-the character of the natives, and have the’
of living with the nations of America. ||
what cuedy renders the harmony betwixt tH
durable, is the abfence of foldiers, who n
appear in this nation,

Further northwards, near the river Pas
Ogoulas, is fituated the great nation of }
Chatkas, or Flat-heads. 1 call them the g'!
nation, for I have not known or heard of
‘other near fo numerous, ‘They reckon in ™
nation 25,000 warriors. ‘There may perl’
‘be fuch a number ef men among them, wv
take that name; but 1 am far from thin!
that all thefe have a title to the charaéte:
Watriors.. t

|
/

According to the tradition of the native i|
mation arrived fo fuddenly, and paffed fo rat

if
Wind have never dared to try whether they

‘\re brave or not. It is doubtlefs owing to this
‘Jat they have increafed to their prefent numbers.

OF LOUISIANA. rat

‘|thro’ the territories of others, that when f
ed them, whence came the Chatkas ? they anf-
1 red me, that they fprung out of the ground;
4 which they meant to exprefs their great fur-
ze at fecing them appear fofuddenly. Their
at numbers awed the natives near whom they
fled ; their character, being but little inclined
Hjwar, did not infpire them with the fury of
goquefts ; thus they at length arrived in an un-
pabited country which nobody difputed with

em. They have fince lived without any dif-

! | They are called Flat-heads ; but I do not
ow why that name has been given to them

tes with their neighbours ; who on the other

jare than to others, fince all the nations of

uifiana have their heads as flat, or nearly fo.
aes

ghey are fituated about 250 miles north from
je fea, and extend mere from eaft to weft than

yom fouth to north.

Y

Thofe who travel from the Chatkas to the
icafaws, feldom go by the fhorteft road,

hich extends about 180 miles, and is very
iloody and mountainous. They choofe rather

to

142 THE HISTORY

to go along the river Mobile, which is both ti
eafieft and moft pleafant route. The nation |)
the Chicafaws is very warlike. ‘The men ha |
very regular features, are large, well fhape},
and neatly dreffed; they are fierce, and have)
high opinion of themfelves. They feem tol I
the remains of a populous nation, whofe wa; |
like difpofition had prompted them to invade {,
veral nations, whom they have indeed deftro)|
ed, but not without diminifhing their ov
numbers by thofe expeditions, What indu
me to believe that this nation has been former
very confiderable, is that the nations who be
der upon them, and whom I have jot me
tioned, {peak the Chicafaw language, tho’ fom
what corrupted, and thofe who {peak it bi

value themfelves upon it. : |

yi

I ought perhaps to except out of this nu!
ber the Taenfas, who being a branch of f!
Natches, have fill preferved their peculiar ||
guage; but even.thefe fpeak, in general,
corrupted Chicafaw language, which our Fren
fettlers call the Mobilian language. As tot
Chatkas, 1 fuppofe, that being very numeror:
they have been able to preferve their own Ia
guage in a great meafure; and have only adoy

5

LP ORL OUI SIAM A. 143
| d fome words of the Chica/aw language. They
ft ways {poke to me in the Chica/aw tongue.

_In returning towards the coaft next the river
Wififipi, we meet with a fmall nation of about
‘wenty huts, named Aquelou-piffas, that is, men
“vho underftand and fee. This nation formerly
ved within three or four miles of the place
vhere New Orleans is built; but they are fur-
her north at prefent, and not far from the lake
ase. Lewis or Pontchartrain. They {peak a lan-
jruage fomewhat approaching to that of the
\hicafaws. We have never had great dealings
wvith them.

_ Being now arrived at the river Mifh/ipi, I
hall proceed upwards along its banks, as far as
jo the moft diftant nations that are knownto us.

The firft nation that I meet with is the Ou-
nas, which fignifies the red nation. They are
ituated about twenty leagues from New Orleans,
where 1 faw fome of them upon my arrival in
iS province. Upon the firft eftablithment of
the colony, fome french went and fettled near
them ; ; and they have been very fatal neigh-
oours, by furnifhing them with brandy, which
they drink to great excels.

RE nena soot oreithonty coca ees nap nein

Crofling

A STE PM AEOESL PEE T EAT

Wii PRE HVS TORY
Croffing the Red River, and proceeding ftitt|

|
ef Hl
|

upwards, we find the remains of the nation of
the Tonicas, who have always been very much}
-attached to the French, and have even been our :
aiixiliaries in war. The Chief of this nation).
was our very zealous friend ; and as he was |
fall of courage, and always ready to make war on!’
the enemies of the French, the king fent him al
brevet of brigadier of the red armies, and a blue!
ribbon, from whence hung a filver medal, which
on one fide reprefented the marriage of the
king, and on the reverfe had the city of Paris.’
He likewife fent him a gold-headed cane ; and.
the Indian Chief was nota little proud of wear-.
ing thofe honourable diftin¢étions, which were
certainly well beftowed, ‘This nation {peaks
a language fo far different from that of their,
neighbours, in that they pronounce the letter’
R, which the others have not.. They have like-

wife different cuftoms.

The Natches in former times appear to have
been one of the moft refpectable nations in the

_ colony, not only from their own tradition, but
from that of the other nations, in whom their’
greatnefs and civilized cuftoms raifed no lefs
jealoufy than admiration. I could fill a volume

with what relates to this people alone ; but as
Tam

t

wal id Eu:
Reb ntenacnrn piace agape epi ts ns

a

OF LOUISIANA. [45

| Tam now giving a concile account of the people-

of Louifiana, 1 fhall {peak of them as of the
reft, only enlarging a little upon fome impor-

tant tranfaCtions concerning them.

When I arrived in1720 among the Natcdes,

that nation was fituated upon a fimall river of
‘the fame name; the chief village where the
Great Sun refided was built along the banks of

“the river, and the other villages were planted

|

i
i

yound it. They were two leagues above the

‘confluence of the river, which joins the Ali/-

| f fbi at the foot of the great precipices of the

Natches. From thence are four leagues to its
fource, andas many to Fort Ro/alie, and they
were fituated within a league of the fort.

- Two finall nations lived as- refugees among
the Natches. The moft ancient of thefe ad-
opted nations were the Grigras, who feem to
have received that name from the French, be-

caufe when talking with one another they often

pronounce thofe two fyllables, which makes
them be remarked as ftrangers among the
Natches, who, as well as the Chica/aws, and all
the nations that fpeak the Chica/aw language,
cannot pronounce the letter 2, :

Vou. Il. H The

= iciiiiptash cian ae tO ee

LE SLATE IESE RSE OLLI RELL NH AG

oT ILE HUST ORLY

_ The other fmall nation adopted by the
Natches, are the Thioux, who have alfo the let-
ter R in their language. ‘Thefe were the weak
remains of the Thioux nation, formerly one of
the ftrongeft in the country. However, accord=
ing to the account of the other nations, being
of a turbulent difpofition, they drew upon them-
felves the refentment of the Chicafaws, which
was the occafion of their ruin; for by their
many engagements they were at length fo weak-.
ened that they durft not face their enemy, and
confequently were obliged to take refuge among ~
the Natches. ||

~~

The Natches, the Grigras, and the Thioux,
may together raife about 1200 warriors ; which
is but a fmall force in comparifon of what the
Natches could formerly have raifed alone; for
according to their traditions they were the moft
powerful nation of all North America, and were
looked upon by the other nations as their fa- *
periors, andon that account refpected by them. —
To pive an idea of their power, I fhall only
mention, that formerly they extended from the
river Manchac or Iberville, which is about 50
Jeagues from the fea, to the river Waba/b, which
is diflant from the fea about 460 leagues;

and that ale had about five hundred Suns or
princes.

OF LOUISIANA... 147

j ices. From thefe faéts we may judge how
‘vulous this nation formerly has been; but
! pride of their Great Suns, or fovereigns, and
| wile of their inferior Suns, joined to the pre-
j ices of the people, has made greater havoc
j ng them, and contributed more to their de-

tion, than long and bloody wars would
|e done.

As their fovereigns were defpotic, they had

i\a long time paft eftablifhed the following in-

(nan and impolitic cuftom, that when any of
ijn died, a great number of their fubjects,

[a men and women, fhould likewife be put

}eath. A proportionable number of fubjects

e likewife killed upon the death of any of the

i rior Suns ; and the people on the other hand

i imbibed a belief that all thofe who fol-

| ed their princes into the other world, to ferve

t n there, would be eternally happy. It is

¢ toconceive how ruinous fuch an inhuman

¢jom would be among a nation who had fo |
ly princes as the Natches.

: ‘would feem that fome of the Suns, more hu-
ethan the reft, had difapproved of this bar-
) us cuftom, and had therefore retired to places
| remote diftance from the center of their na-

5 H 2 tion.

aS een er Emma abt ey Ser

' defcended. The other branch is the nation o1

ge" TOR Ps ee ee

tion. For we have two branches of this oa
nation fettled in other parts of the colony, whc}
have preferved the greateft part of the cuftome
of the Watches. One of thefe branches is the’
nation of the Taenfas on the banks of the Mo i
bile, who preferve the eternal fire, and fevera |

other ufages of the nation from whom they are

the Chitimachas, whom the Natches have alu
ways looked upon as their brethren. q
Forty leagues north from the Natches is the

river Yazous which runs into the Mifi/ipi, and
is fo called from a nation of the fame name whi

had about a hundred hats on its banks. ; t

u ;

Near the Yazous on the fame river ihe th’
Coroas, a nation confifting of about forty huts
"Thefe two nations pronounce the letter #. i

Upon the fame river likewife lived the Chaechi
Oumas, a name which fignifies red Cray ff
Thefe people had not above fifty huts. |

|

Near ats fame river dwelt the Oufe Ocaulas
or the nation of the dog, which might | 4

about fixty huts. ne

OF LOUISIANA. 149

| The Tapoufas likewife inhabited upon the
banks of this river, and had not above twenty-
five huts. Thefe three laft nations do not pro-
pounce the letter R, and feem to be branches of
the Chicafaws, efpecially as they {peak their lan-
guage. Since the maffacre of the French fettlers
at the Natches, thefe five {mall nations who had
joined in the confpiracy againft us, have all re-
tired among the Chica/aws, and make now but
one nation with them,

To the north of the Ohio, not far from the
‘banks of the Mifi/ipi, inhabit the Illinois, who
ret

have given their name to the river on the banks

a

} of which they have fettled. They are divided
into feveral villages, fach as the Tamaroas, the

SS Se
eed SS RTE oT cP
ay

—

Cafkaquias, the Caouquias, the Pimiteouis, and
} fome others. Near the village of the Zamaroas
js a French poft, where feveral French Canadians

have fettled.

<a ~

as

This is one of the moft confiderable pofts in

all Louifiana, which will appear not at all fur-
prizing, when we confider that the Illinois were
one of the firft nations whom we difcovered in
the colony, and that they have always remained
‘mott faithful allies of the French; an advantage
- which is in a great meafure owing to the pro-
| y oe per

150 ae 2 HOTS) TL Oe

per manner of living with the natives of An

rica, which the Canadians have always obfer| |

ed. Itis not their want of courage that re}

ders them fo peaceable, for their valour is we

known. The letter R is pronounced by tl]
Illinois.

§ |

Proceeding further northwards we meet wit]
a pretty large nation, known by the name q
the Foxes, with whom we have been at we,
near thefe forty years paft, yet I have not hear.
that we have had any blows with them for | |
long time. a q |

om
If!

From the Foxes to the Fall of St. Anthony
we meet with no nation, nor any above th.
Fall for near an hundred leagues. About tha
diftartte north of the Fa// the Sioux are fettled t
and are faid to inhabit feveral fcattered vill es
both on the eaft and weft of the Mifh/ipi.

Our 4 OU Sua N AL. ngs

SEC T. I.

Of the nations inhabiting on the weft of
the Miffifipi.

AVING defcribed as exactly as poffible
all the nations on the eaft of the Mi/-
fifipi, as well thofe-who are included within the
bounds of the colony, as thofe who are ad-
joining to it, and have fome connection with
the others ; I fhall now proceed to give an ac-

count of thofe who inhabit on the weft of the

river, from the fea northwards.

Between the river Miff/ipi, and thofe lakes
which are filled by its waters upon their over-
flowing, isa fmall nation named Chaouchas, or
Quachas, who inhabit fome little villages, but

are of fo little confequence that they are na.

otherwife known to our colonifts but by their
name.

mentioned live the Chitimachas. Thefe are

the remains of a nation which was formerly

pretty confiderable ; but we have deftroyed part

| ‘of them by exciting our allies to attack them.

i have already obferved that they were a branch

In the neighbourhood of the lakes above- _

H 4 | of

A REPRE FOLIO ALLEL IT OATES %

rajeT ne HES T ORY

of the Natches, and upon my firft fettling
among thefe, I found feveral Chitimachas, who
had taken refuge among them to avoid the eala- |
mities of the war which had been made upon
them near the lakes, j

Since the peace that was concluded with {
them in 1719, they have not only remained
quiet, but kept themfelves fo prudently retir-
ed, that, rather than have any intercourfe with
the French, or traffic with them for what they °
look upon as fuperfluities, they choofe to live
in the manner they did an hundred years ago.

Along the weft coaft, not far from the fea, in- '
abit the nation named Afacapas, that is, men-
eaters, being fo called by the other nations on ac- '
count of their deteftable cuftom of eating their “
enemies, or fuch as they believe to be their ene- ”
mics. In this vaft country there are no other q
Canibals to be met with befides the Aacapas ; *
and fince the French have gone among them,- ;
they have raited in them fo great an horror of
“that abominable praice of devouring creatures *
of their own’ fpecies, that they have promifed |
‘to Jeave it off; and accordingly for a long
tine paft we have heard of no fuch barbarity |
among them. ae

The

OF LOUIS ITAN-A.- 158

‘The Bayouc Ogonlas were formerly fituated
in the country that fill bears their name. ‘This
nation is now confounded with ‘the others te
| whom itis joined,

"The Oque-Louffas are a fmall nation fituated
north-welt from the Cut Point. They live on
the banks of two fimall lakes, the waters of
which appear black by reafon of the great num-
ber of leaves which cover the bottom of them,
4 and have given name to the nation, Oque- Loujfas
| in their language fignifying black water..

From the Oque-Louffas to the Red River, we
“meet with no other nation 5 but upon the banks
| of this river, a little above the Rafid, is feated:
the fmall nation of the Avoyels. Thele are the
people who bring to our fettlers horfes, oxen,.
and cows. I know not in what. fair they buy
them, nor with what money they pay for them ;,
but the truth is, they fell them to us for about
feventeen fhillings a-piece. The Sfaniards of
New-Spain have fuch numbers of them that |
they do not know what to do with them, and
are obliged to thofe who will take them off
their hands. At prefent the French have a.
f greater number of them than they want, efpe-
tially of hories.

i IL § Abdout

1s4 TrBeEp Hil 8 P.O RE

About fifty leagues higher up the Red River, |
live the Nachitoches, near a French poft of the,
fame name. They are a pretty confiderable na- ,
tion, having about two hundred huts. They
have always been greatly attached to the French;
but never were friends to the Spaniards. There _
are fome branches of this nation fituated fur- .
ther weftward ; but the huts are not numerous.

Three hundred miles weft from the Miffhpi, |
upon the Red River, we find the great nation |
of the Cadcdaguioux. It is divided into feveral !
branches which extend very widely. This
people, as wellas the Nachitoches, have a pecu-
liar language; however, there is not a village i in|
either of the nations, nor indeed in any nation |
of Louifiana, where there are not fome who can |
fpeak the Chicafaw language, which is called”
the vulgar tongue, and is the fame here as the |

Lingua Franca \ is in the Levant.

Between the Red River and the Arkatifde: }
there is at prefent no nation. Formerly the |
Ouachites lived upon the Black River, and gave |
their mame to it, but at this time there are no |
remains of that nation; the Chicafaws having: i i
deftroyed great part of Doan and the reft took |
refuge among the Cadsdaquioux, where their |

enemies durit not moleft them. The Taen/fas |
lived

\
:
|
i
2)
}
is
‘
%
i
5 |
&
®
¥
f
a
i
¥
;

COPRIOOWEST ANA. — ras

lived formerly in. this neighbourhood upon a
river of their name; but they took refuge on
the banks of the Mobile near the allies of the
Chicafaws, who leave them undifturbed.

\

The nation of the 4rkan/as have given their

_ name to the river on which they are fituated,

about four leagues from its confluence with the
Mififipi. ‘This nation is pretty confiderable,
and its men are no lefs diftinguifhed for being
good hunters than ftout warriors. “The Chi-
cafaws, who are of a reftlefs difpofition, have
more than once wanted to make trial of the bra- _
very of the 4rkanfas ; but they were oppofed with
fuch firmnefs, that they have now laid afide all
thoughts of attacking them, efpecially fince they

have been joined by the Kafpas, the Michiga-
|. mias, and a part of the Minois, who have fettled

among them. Accordingly there is no longer
any mention either of the Kafpas or Michiga-
mias, who are now all adopted by the 4rkanfas.

The reader may have already obferved, in this
account of the natives of Louifiana, that feveral
nations of thofe people had joined themfelves
to others, either becaufe they could no longer
refit their enemies, or becaufe they hoped to
improve their condition by intermixing with
H 6 another

6 THE HISTORY

another nation. I am glad to have this occafion:
of obferving that thofe people refpect the rights:
of hofpitality, and that thofe rights always pre- |
vail, notwithftanding any fuperiority that one

nation may have over another with whom they
are at war, or even over thofe. people among
whom their enemies take refuge. For example,
a nation of 2000 warriors makes war upon, and
violently purfues another nation of soo war-
riors, Who retire among a nation in alliance
with their enemies. Hf this:laft nation ‘adops
the soo, the firft nation, tho’ 2000 im number,
wmmediately lay down their arms, and inftead
of continuing hoftilities, reckon the adopted na-
tion among the number of their allies. :

Befides: the Arkanfas, fome authors place
other nations upon their river... I cannot take
upon me to fay that there never Were any; but_
I can pofitively afirm, from my own obferva-
~tion upon the fpot, that no other nation is.to
be met with at prefent on this river, or evenas
far asthe Mi/fourt.

Not far from the river Miffouri is fituated the
~ mation of the O/ages upon.a {mall river of the
fame same. his nation is faid to have been

ri pretty

VC Mae Sr

OF LOUISIANA fey

pretty confiderable formerly, but at prefent they
ean neither be faid to be great nor {mall.

The nation of the Miffourts is very confider-
‘able, and has given its name to the large river
that empties itfelf ito the Mifi/ppi. Itis the
firft nation we meet with from the confluence
ef the two rivers, and yet it is fituated above
forty leagues up the Mifouri. “The French had
a fetilement pretty near this nation, at the time
when M. de Bourgmont was commandant in
thofe parts; but foon after he left them, the in-
habitants maffacred the French garrifon.

The Spaniards, as well as our other neigh-
bours, being continually jealous of our fupe-
riority over them, formed a defign: of eftablith-
ing themfelves among the Mifouris, about forty
leacues from the J/linois, in order to limit our
boundaries weftward. ‘Fhey judged it neceflary,
for the fecurity of their colony, entirely to cut
off the Miffouris, and for that purpote they court-
ed the friendfhip of the O/ages, whofe afliftance
they thought would be of fervice to them in
their enterprize, and whowere generally at enmity
with the JMifouris. A company of Spaniards,
men, women, and foldiers, accordingly fet out
from Santa Fe, having a Dominican for their
chaplain,

m8 . MIVHCE! 1S Fw RY

chaplain, and an engineer for their guide and
commander. The caravan was furnifhed with

horfes, and all other kinds of beafts neceffary; |

for it is one of their prudent maxims, to fend

off all thofe things together. By a fatal mif- _

take the Spaniards arrived firft among the Mi/-
fouris, whom they miftook for the Ofages, and
imprudently difcovering their hoftile intentions,
they were themfelves furprifed and cut off by

thofe whom they intended for deftru€tion. The

Miffouris fome time afterwards dreffed them-
{elves with the ornaments of the chapel; and
carried them in a kind of triumphant proceffion
to the French commandant among the Jk-
nois. Along with the ornaments they brought a

Shani/b map, which feemed to me to be a better -

draught of the weft part of our colony, towards
them, than of the countries we are moft con-
cerned with. From this map it appears, that
we ought to bend the Red River, and that of
the rkanfas, fomewhat more, and place the
fource of the Mifififi more wefterly than our
geographers do.

The principal nations who inhabit upon the

banks, or in the neighbourhood of the AZi/ouri, -

are, befides thofe already mentioned, the Can-
zas, the Othoues, the White Panis, the Black
5 ; Panis,

-

’

OF LOUISIANA. 159

Panis, the Panimachas, the Aiouez, and the Pa-

doucas. The moft numerous of all thofe nations
are the Padoucas, the {malleft are the Aiouez,
“the Othoues, and the G/ages; the others are

pretty confiderable. |

To the north of all thofe nations, and near
the river Mififipi, it is pretended that a part of

~ the nation of the Sioux have their refidence.

Some affirm that they inhabit now on one fide

of the river, now on another. From what I

could learn from travellers, I am inclined to
think, that they occupy at the fame time both
fides of the Mifi/ifi, and their fettlements, as
I have elfewhere obferved, are more than an
hundred leagues above the Fall of St. Anthony.
But we need not yet difquiet ourfelves about the
advantages which might refult to us from thofe
very remote countries. Many ages muft pafs

before we can penetrate into the northern parts
of Louifiana.

=

TIHETHILIS POR Y

CG EwAuPs AL

A Defcription of the natives of Louifians ;
of their manners and cufioms, particularly
thofe of the Natches: Of their language,
their religion, ceremonies, Rulers or Suns,
feats, marriages, Stes —

SECT. I

A defcription of the natives, the different
employments of the two fexes; and their |
manner of briuging up their children.

N the concife hiftory which I have given of ~
| the people of Leuifiana, and in feveral other
places where I have happened to mention them,
the reader may have obferved that thefe nations
have not all the fame character, altho’ they live
adjoining to each other. He therefore ought ~ :
mot to expect a perfect uniformity in their man-
ners, or that I fhould defcribe all the different
ufages that prevail_in different parts, which
would create a difagreeable medley, and tend:
only to confound his ideas which cannot be too — |
clear. My defign is only to fhew in general, {
from the character of thofe people, what courfle

. We.

i

a

Or LOU ra AN’ A; Los

we ought to obferve, in order to draw advan-
tage from our intercourfe with them. I fhall
however be more full in fpeaking of the Natches,
a populous nation, among whom t lived the
fpace of eight years, and whofe fovereign, the
chief of war, and the chief of the keepers of the
temple, were among my moft intimate friends.
Belides, their manners were more civilized, their
manner of thinking more juft and fuller of fen-
timent, their cuftoms more reafonable, and
their ceremonies more natural and ferious; on
all which accounts they were eminently diftin-
guithed above the other nations.

All the natives of America in general are ex-
tremely well made; very few of them are to be

- feen under five feet and an half, and very many

of them above that ; their leg feems as if it was
fafhioned in a mould; it is nervous, and the
calf is firm; they are long waifted; their head
is upright and fomewhat flat in the upper part;
and their features are regular ; they have black
eyes, and thick black hair without curls, If
we fee none that are extremely fat and purly,
neither do we meet with any that are fo lean as
if they were in a confumption. The men in
general are better made than the women; they
are more nervous, and the women more plump

- and

162 THE HISTORY,

and flefhy ; the men are almoft all large, and
the women of a middle fize. I have always |
been inclined to think, that the care they take |
of their children in their infancy contributes
greatly to their fine fhapes, tho’ the climate has

alfo its fhare in that, for the French born in |
Louifiana are all large, well fhaped, and of —
good flefh and blood. |

When any of the women of the natives is de-
livered, fhe goes immediately to the water and |
wathes herfelf and the infant; fhe then comes |
home and lies down, after having difpofed her in- _
fant in the cradle, which is about two feet and
a half long, nine inches broad, and half a foot.

deep, being formed of ftreight pieces of cane
bent up at one end, to ferve for a foot or ftay.
.Betwixt the canes and the infant is a kind of
matrafs of the tufted herb called Spani/b beard, |
sand under its head is a little fkin cushion, |
ftuffed with the fame herb. The infant is |
laid on its back in the cradle, and faftened —
to it by the fhoulders, the arms, the legs, the
thighs, and the hips; and over its forehead are |

fit two bands of deer-fkin which keeps its head |
to the cufhion, and renders that part flat. As |
the cradle does not weigh much above two —

pounds, it generally lies on the mother’s bed, |
who |

tin te ON LS AN Ax yi162

who fuckles the infant occafionally, The in-
fant is rocked not fide-ways but end-ways, and
_ when it is a month old they put under its knees
garters made of buffalo’s wool which is very
foft, and above the anckle bones they bind the
legs with threads of the fame wool for the
breadth of three or four inches. And _ thefe

ligatures the child wears till it be four or five
years old. |

| fun. They rub them with oil, both to render

| the flies from ftinging them, as they fuffer them

__ they give them a bow and arrows proporti

The infants of the natives are white when
they are born, but they foon turn brown, as
they are rubbed with bear’s oil and expofed to the

_ their nerves more flexible, and alfo to prevent

to roll about naked upon all fours, before they
are able to walk upright. They never put them
upon their legs till they are a year old, and ~
they fuffer them to fuck as long as they pleafe,
-unlefs the mother prove with child, in which 3
cafe fhe ceafes to fuckle.

When the boys are about twelve years of “ a4

to their ftrength, and in order to exercife them
they tie fome hay, about twice as large as the
fift,

a
|
A |
4
4

q

Bue

(fet ne a loot ees

Aft, to the end of a pole about ten feet high.

He who brings down the hay receives the prize

from an old man who is always prefent: the

belt fhooter is called the young warrior, the

next beft is called the apprentice warrior,

and fo on of the others, who are prompted
to excel more by fentiments of honour than by

blows. ei

As they are threatened from their moft tender
infancy with the refentment of the old man, if
they are any ways refractory or do any mif-
chievous tricks, which is very rare, they featg
and refpeét him above every one elfe. This old
man is frequently the great-grandfather, or
the great-great-grandfather of the family, for” |

" thofe nativeslive to a very great age. Ihave feen —

fome of them not able to walk, without having
any other diftemper or infirmity than old age, fo.

that when the neceffities of nature required it,
or they wanted to take the air, they were
obliged to be carried out of their hut, an af.
(iftance which is always readily offered to the
old men. ‘The refpeét paid to them by their
family is fo great, that they are looked upon as
the judges of all differences, and their counfels |

are decrees. An old man who is the head of a-
fae

OF LOUISIANA. 165

family is called father, even by his grand chil-

dren, and great-grand children, who to diftin-

__guith their immediate father call him their true

father.

If any of their young people happen to fight,
which I never faw nor heard of during the
whole time I refided in their neighbourhood,

they threaten to put them ina hut ata great

diftance from their nation, as perfons unworthy
to live among others; and this is repeated to
them fo often, that if they happen to have had
a battle, they take care never to have another.
I have already obferved that I ftudied them a
confiderable number of years ; and [never could

‘earn that there ever were any difputes or
‘boxing matches among cither their boys or

men.

As the children grow up, the fathers and
ynothers take care each to accuftom thofe of their
own fex to the labours and exercifes fuited to
them, and they have no great trouble to keep
them employed ; but it muft be confeffed that —

” the girls and the women work more than the -
men and the boys. Thefe laft go a hunting

and fifhing, cut the wood, the fmalleft bits of
! : which

166 THE HISTORY

which are carried home by the women; they
clear the fields for corn, and how it; and on
days when they cannot go abroad they amufe
_themfelves with making, after their fafhion, pick-
axes, oars, paddles, and other inftruments, which
once made laft a long while. The women on
the other hand have their children to bring up,
have to pound the maiz for the fubfiftence of
the family, have to keep up the fire, and to
make a great many utenfils, which require
a good deal of work, and laft but a fhort
time, fuch as their earthen ware, their matts,
their clothes, and a thoufand other things of
that kind.

~

When the children are about ten or twelve
years of age they accuftom them by degrees to
carry {mall loads, which they increafe with
their years. The boys are from time to time
exercifed in running; but they never fuffer
them to exhauft themfelves by the length of the
race, left they fhould overheat themfelves. The
more nimble at that exercife fometimes fport-
fully challenges thofe who are more flow and
heavy ; but the old man who prefides hinders

, the raillery from being carried to any excefs,
carefully avoiding all fubjeéts of quarrel and
dif-

OF LOUISIANA. 167

Hi pute, on which ‘account doubtlefs it is that
hey will never fuffer them to wreftle.

Both boys and girls are early accuftomed to
yathe every morning, in order to ftrengthen
he nerves, and harden them againft cold and
atigue, and likewife to teach them to fwim,
hat they may avoid or purfue an enemy, even
crofs a river. The boys and girls, from the
ime they are three years of age, are called out
very morning by an old man, to go to the ri-
er; and here is fome more employment for the
lothers who accompany them thither to teach
ic tofwim. Thofe who can fwim tolerably
ell, make a great noife in winter by beating the

ater in order to frighten away the crocodiles,
ad keep themfelves warm,

hi. reader will have obferved that moft of
ie labour and fatigue falls to the thare of the
oinen 5 but I can declare that I never heard
em complain of their fatigues, unlefs of the
ty their children gave them, which com-
aint arofe as much from maternal affection, as
om any attention that the children required.
he girls from their infancy have it inftilled into ~
, that if they are fluttifh or unhandy they

will

Se Oe Pee a
SCN ga ate a eens Ca

We ae yb 1S TO RAY

will have none but a dull aukward fellow for
their hufband ; I obferved in all the nations 1 4
vifited, that this threatning was never loft upon |

the young girls.

} .

Lwould not have it thought however, that ”
the young men are altogether idle. Their oc '
cupations sndeed are not of fuch a long conti- :
but they are much more laborious. |

nuance ;

As the men have occafion for more ftrength, i
reafon requires that they fhould not exhauft |
themfelves in their youth; but at the fame time
they are not exem pted from thofe exercifes that’
Gt them for war and hunting. T he children |
are educated without blows ; and the body is!

left at full liberty to grow, and to form and
ftrengthen itfelf with their years. The youths
accompany the men in hunting, in order to|
learn the wiles and tricks neceflary to be prac-
tifed in the field, and accuftom themfelves to
fuffering and patience. When they are full
grown men, they drefs the field or walte land,
and prepare it to receive the feed; they go to
svar or hunting, drefs the fkins, cut the wood,
make their bows and arrows, and affift each

other in building their huts.

I

OF LOUISIANA. 169

They have ftill I allow a great deal of more
{pare time than the women ; but this is not all
thrown away. As thefe people have not the
affiftance of writing, they are obliged to have

‘yecourfe to tradition, in order to preferve the

remembrance of any remarkable tranfactions ;
and this tradition cannot be learned but by fre-
quent repetitions, confequently many of the
youths are often employed in hearing the old
men narrate the hiftory of their anceftors,

which is thus tranfmitted from generation to
generation, In order to preferve their tradi-

tions pure and uncorrupt, they are careful not
to deliver them indifferently to all their young
people, but teach them only to thofe young
men of whom they have the beft opinion.

You, Ty.

ti .THE IR LS Do Riv

Oye MOE TER

Of the language, government, veligion, ce~
remonits, and feafts of the natives.

\

/

™ Uring my refidence among the Watches lcon-

a_/ tracted an intimate friendfhip, not only with

the chiefs or guardians of the temple, but with
the Great Sun, or the fovereign of the nation, and_
his brother the Stung Serpent, the chief of the
warriors ; and by my great intimacy with them, _
and the refpect I acquired among the people, _

I eafily learned the peculiar language of the na- |
tion. |

This language is eafy in the pronunciation, —
and expreffive in the terms, The natives, like _
the Orientals, fpeak much in a figurative {ftile,
the Natches in particular more than any other
people of Louifiana. They have two languages,
that of the nobles and that of the people, and —
both are very copious. I will give two or |
three examples to fhew the difference of thefe

two languages. When I call one of the com-
mon

OF LOUISIANA. 171

mon people, I fay to him aquenan, that is,
hark ye: if, on the other hand, I want to {peak
toa Sux, or one of their nobles, I fay to him,
- magani, which fignifies, hark ye. If one of
_ the common people call at my houfe, I fay to
him, tachte-cabanafe, are you there, or 1 am
glad to fee you, which is equivalent to our
good morrow. I exprefs the fame thing to a
Sun by the word afapegouaiché. Again, ac-
cording to their cuftom, I fay to one of the
common people, petchi, fit you down; but to a
Sun, when I defire him to fit down, I fay,
caham. The two languages are nearly the
fame in all other refpects; for the difference of
expreflion feems only to take place in matters
relating to the perfons of the Sus and nobles,
in diftin€tion from thofe of the people.

Tho’ the women {peak the fame language
with the men, yet, in their manner of pronun-
ciation, they foften and fmooth the words,
- whereas the fpeech of the men is more grave
and @grious. The French, by chiefly fre-
quenting the women, contraéted their manner
of fpeaking, which was ridiculed as an effemi-
nacy by the women, as well as Mise men, aoe
the natives. )

\

rR From

72 ‘THE HISTORY

- From my converfations with the chief of the
guardians of the temple, I difcovered that they
acknowledged a fupreme being, whom they
called Coyocop-Chill, or Great Spirit. The Spi-
‘rit infinitely great, or the Spirit by way of ex-
cellence. The word chill, in their language,
fignifies the moft fuperlative degree of perfec-
tion, and is added by them to the word which —
fignifies fire, when they want to mention the
Sun; thus Oua is fire, and Oua-chill is the fu-
preme fire, or the Sun ; therefore, by the word
Coyocop-Chill they mean a fpirit that furpafles
other fpirits as much as the fun does common

fire.

«© God,” according to the definition of the
guardian of the temple, ‘was fo great and —
powerful, that, in comparifon with him, all
other things were as nothing ; he had made all
that we fee, all that we can fee, and all that we
cannot fee; he was fo good, that he could not |
do illto any one, even if he had a mind to it.
‘They believe that God had made all thin
his will; that neverthelefs the little fpirits,
who are his fervants, might, by his orders, —
have made many excellent works in the uni- —
| : -verfe,

Oe bh OM US iskiteA. ~ bag

verfe, which we admire; but that God hime

{elf had formed man with his own hands.”

The guardian added, that they named thole
little {pirits, Coyocep-techow, that is, a free fer-
vant, but as fubmiffive and as refpectful as a
flave; that thofe fpirits were always prefent be-
fore God, ready to execute his pleafure with
an extreme diligence; that the air was filled
with other fpirits, fome good fome wicked ; and

that the latter had achief, who was more wick
edthan them all; that God had found him fo

wicked, that he had: bound him for ever, fo
that the other fpirits of the air no longer did

fo much harm, efpecially when they were by

prayers entreated not to do its for it is one of
the religious cuftoms of thofe people to invoke
the fpirits of the air for rain or fine weather,
according as each is needed. I have feen the
Great Sun fat for nine days together, eating
nothing but maiz-corn, without meat or fith,
drinking nothing but water, and abftaining from

the company of his wives during the whole

“a

time. He underwent this rigorous faft out of
complaifance to fome Frenchmen, who had been

complaining that it had not rained for a long

time. Thofe inconfiderate people had not re
Agate wit marked,

174 marie) Bd SP .O:RFY
marked, that notwithftanding the want of rain,
the fruits of the éarth had not fuffered, as the

dew is fo plentiful in fummer as full ly to fup-
ply that deficiency.

Risse guardian of the pate having told me
iat God had made man with his own. hands,

atked him if he knew how that was done. .

ie anfwered, “ that God had kneaded fome
clay, fuch as that which potters ufe, and had.
made it into a little man; and that after ex-
amining it, and finding it well formed, he
blew upon his work, and forthwith that little
man had life, grew, aéted, walked, and found
himfelf a man perfe&tly well fhaped.” As he
made no mention of the woman, I afked him
hew he believed fhe was made; he told me,
“ that probably in the fame manner as the
nan5 that their antient Speech made no men-
tion of any difference, only told ‘them that the
man was made firft, and was the ftrongeft and
moft courageous, becaufe he was to be the
head and fupport of the woman, who was made
to be his companion.”

"Here I did not omit to rectify his notions on
the fubjects we had been talking about, and to
give

QR LH ES WANES 7g)’
give him thofe juft ideas which religion teaches -
us, and the facred writings have tranfmitted to
us. - He hearkened to me with great attention,
and promifed to repeat all that I had told bim
to the old men of his nation, who ‘certainly
would not forget it; adding, that we were
very happy in being able to retain the knows
ledge of fuch fine things by means of the
fpeaking cloth, fo they ‘name books and manu-
{eripts.

I next proceeded to afk him, who had taught
them to build a temple ? whence had they their
eternal fire, which they preferved with fo much
care ? and who was the perfon that firft infli-
tuted their feafts? He replied, “ The charge.

I am entrufted with obliges me to know ate
thefe things you afk of me; I will therefore
fatisfy you: hearken to me, A great number
of years ago there appeared: among us aman
and his wife, who came down from the fun.
Not that we believe that the fun had a wife who
bore him children, or that thefe were the de-

feendants of the fun; but avhen they firft ap- :
peared among us they were fo bright and lu-
minous, that we had no difficulty to believe
that they came down from the fun. This
| 14 ! man

76 THE HISTORY

man told us, that having feen from on high
that we did not govern ourfelves well; that we
had no mafter; that -each of us had prefump-
tion enough to think himfelf capable of Z0-
verning others, while he could not even con-
duct himfelf; he had thought fit to come
cown among us to teach us to live better.

‘* He moreover told us, that in order to live
in peace among ourfelves, and to pleafe the
fupreme Spirit, we muft indifpenfibly obferve
the following points; we muft never kill any
one but in defence of our own lives ; we muft
never know any other woman befides our own;
we muft never take any thing that belongs to
another ; we muft never lye nor get drunk; we
muft not be avaricious, but mutt give liberally,
and with joy, part of what we have to others
Who are in want, and generoufly fhare our
{ubfiftence with thofe who are in need of it.

‘‘ The words of this man deeply affected us,
for he {poke them with authority, and he pro-
cured the refpeét even of the old men them-
felves, tho’ he reprehended them as freely as
the reft. Next day we offered to acknowledge

him as our fovereign. He at firft refufed, fay-
ind

“

OH EO ULES TAMA. 179

ing that he fhould not be obeyed, and that the
difobedient would infallibly die; but at length
he accepted the offer that was made him on the
following conditions :

»)

‘© That we would go and inhabit another
country, better than that in which we were,
which he would fhew us; that we would after-
wards live conformable to the inftruétions he
had given us; that we would promife never to
acknowledge any other fovereigns but him and
his defcendants; that the nobility fhould be
perpetuated by the women after this manner 5
- 3£ I, faid he, have male and female children,

they beifig brothers and fifters cannot marry to-
gether ; the eldeft boy may chufe a wife from
among the people, but his fons fhall be only
nobles ; the children of the eldeft girl, on the
other hand, fhall be princes and princeffes, and
her eldeft fon be fovereign; but her eldeft
daughter be the mother of the next fovereign,
even tho’ fhe fhould marry one of the common
people; and, in defect of the eldeft daughter, |
the next female relation to the perfon reigning
fhall be the mother of the future~fovereign ;
the {fons of the fovereign and princes fhall lofe
their rank, but the daughters fhall preferve
theirs. ;

Le “ He

8i7 | THEE ¢ Hot Sur OR yy

_ He then told us, that in order to preferve
the excellent precepts he had given us, it was
neceffary to build a temple, into which it thould “
be lawful for none but the princes and princefles |
to enter, to {peak to the Sfivit. That in the
temple they fhould eternally preferve a fire,
which he would bring down from the fun,
from whence he himfelf had. defcended; that —
the wood with which the fire was fupplied.
thould be pure wood without bark ;. that eight
wife men of the nation thould bs chofen for
guarding the fire night and day; that thofe

eight men fhould have a chief, who fhould fee
them do their duty, and that if any of them
failed in it he fhould be put to death. He like-
wile ordered another temple to be built in a
diftant part of our nation, which was then ve-
ry populous, and the eternal. fire to be kept
there alio, that in cafe it fhould be extinguifhed -
ia the one it might be brought from the other ;
in which cafe, till it was again lighted, the
nation would be afflicted with a ett morta-.
ty

se

“ Our nation having confented to thefe con-.
ditions, he agreed to be our fovereign ; and in
prefence of all the people he brought down
: the

OF LOUISIANA. 7g

the fire from the fun, upon fome wood of the
walnut-tree which he had prepared, which fire
was depofited in both the temples. He lived
along time, and faw his children’s children.
To conclude, he inftituted our feafts fuch as
you fee them.”

The Natches have neither facrifices, liba-
tions, nor offerings; their whole worfhip con-
fifts in preferving the eternal fire, and this the
Great Sun watches over with a peculiar atten-
tion. The Sun, whoreigned when I was in the
country, was extremely folicitous about it, and
vifited the temple every day. His vigilance
had been awakened by a terrible hurricane,
which fome years before had happened in the
country, and was looked upon as an extraordi-
nary event, the air being generally clear and fe-
rene in that climate. If to that calamity fhould
‘be joined the extindlion of the eternal fire, he
was apprehenfive their whole nation would be
-_deftroyed.

One day, when the Great Sun called upon
me, he gave mean account of a dreadful cala-
-mity that had formerly befallen the nation of
the Natches, in confequence, as he believed,
I 6 | | of

0 THE HISTORY

of the extinétion of the eternal fire. He in-
troduced his account in the following manner 5.
‘* Our nation was formerly very numerous and
very powerful; it extended more than twelve _
days journey from eaft to weft, and more than |
fifteen from fouth to north. We reckoned |
then 500 funs, and you may judge by that what _
was the number of the nobles, of the people
of rank, and the common people. Now in —
times paft it happened, that one of the two
guardians, who were upon duty in the temple, |
left it on fome bufinefs, and the other. fel}
afleep, and fuffered the fire to go out. When
he awaked and faw that he had incurred the pe- |
nalty of death, he went and got fome profane.
fire, as tho’ he had been going to light his pipe, _ |
and with that he renewed the eternal fire. His
tranfgreffion was by that means concealed; but !
a dreadful mortality immediately enfued, and
raged for four years, during which many Suns
and an infinite number of the people died.

‘The guardian at length fickened, and found ©
himfelf dying, upon which he fent for the
Great Sun, and confeffed the heinous crime he
had been guilty of. Theold men were imme-_
diately affembled, and, by their advice, fire be-

ing

Gf GOUTSVAN A: 18h

‘ing fnatched from the other temple, and brought
nto this, the mortality quickly ceafed.” Upon
my afking him what he meant by ‘‘ fnatching
the fire,” he replied, ‘“ that it muft always be
brought away by violence, and that fome blood
muit be fhed, unlefs fome tree on the road was
fet on fire by lightning, and then the fire might
be brought from thence; but that the fire of
the fun was always preferable.

It is impoffible to exprefs his aftonifhment
when I told him, that it was a trifling matter

to bring down fire from the fun, and that I

had it in my power to do it whenever I pleafed.
As he was extremely defirous to fee me per-
form that feeming miracle, I took the {malleft

of two burning glaffes which I had brought

from France, and placing fome dry punk (or
-agaric) upon a chip of wood, I drew the fo-

cus of the glafs upon it, and with a tone of
authority pronounced the word Caheuch, that

is, come, as tho’ I had been commanding the
fire to come down. The punk immediately
fmoaking, I blew a little and made it flame to
the utter aftonifhment of the Great Sun and

his whole retinue, fome of whom ftood tremb-

ling with amazement and religious awe. The
prince

183) FRE WES SO pox

prince himfelf could not help exclaiming, “Ah,
what an extraordinary thing is here!’’ I con-
firmed him in his idea, by telling him, that I
greatly loved and efteemed. that ufeful inftru-
ment, as it was moft valuable, and was given —
to me by my grand-father, who was a very
learned man. : .

s

Upon his afking me, if another man could do 1
the fame thing with that inftrument that he had |i
feen me do, I told him that every man might i
doit, and I encouraged him to make the expe- __ ||
ment himfelf. I accordingly put the glafs in
his hand, and leading it with mine over an-
other piece of agaric, I defired him to pronounce

the word Caheuch, which he did, but with a
very faint and diffident tone, neverthelefs, to:
his great amazement, he faw the agaric begin}
to {moke, which fo confounded him that -he
dropt both the chip on which it was laid and
the glafs out of his hands, crying out, “ Ah,
what a miracle ! ”

Their curiofity being now fully raifed, they |
held a confultation in my yard, and refolved to ~
purchafe at any rate my wonderful glafs, which |
would prevent any future mortality in their na: |
tion, in confequence of the extinction of the |

AY eter? |

at

wsdl OS rg Soo 5 Dieu pt aie cre aed =:
Seip aE Bee Ff

OF LOUISIANA. 183

eternal fire. I, in the mean time, had gone

out to my field, as if about fome bufinefs; but

in reality to have a hearty laugh at the comical

feene which I had juft occafioned. Upon my
return the Great Sun entered my apartment
with me, and laying his hand upon mine, told
me, that tho’ he loved all the French, he was

more my friend than of any of the reft, becaufe
- moft of the French’ carried all their underftand-

ing upon their tongue, but that I carried mine
in my. whole head and my whole bedy. After
this preamble he offered to bargain for my glafs,
and defired mé to fet what value I pleafed upon
it, adding that he would not only caufe the
price to be paid by all the families of the na-
tion, but would declare to them that they lay
under an obligation to me for giving up to them
a thing which faved them from a general mor-
tality. Ireplied, that tho’ I bore his whole

nation in my heart, yet nothing made me part

with my glafs, but my affection for him and his
brother ; that, befides, I afked nothing in re-

turn but things neceflary for my fubfiftence,

fuch as corn, fowls, game, and fifh, when they
brought him any of thefe. He offered me
twenty barrels of maiz, of 150 pounds each,
twenty fowls, twenty turkies, and told me that he
would fend me game and filh every time his

war-

184 SE AD CSS O RY

warriors brought him any, and his promife was
- punctually fulfilled. He engaged likewife not
to {peak any thing about it to the Frenchmen,
left they fhould be angry with me for parting
with an inftrument of fo great a value. Next
day the glafs was tried before a general affem-
bly of all the Sus, both men and women, the
nobles, and the men of rank, who ail met to-

gether at the temple; and the fame effect be-

ing produced as the day before, the bargain
was ratified; but it was refolved not to mention

the affair to the common people, who, from —

their curiofity to know the fecrets of their
court, were aflembled in great numbers not
far from the temple, but only to tell them,
that the whole nation of the Matches were ur-
der great obligations to me. :

The Natches are brought up in a moft per-
fet fubmiffion to their fovereign; the autho-
rity which their princes exercife over them is

abfolutely defpotic, and can be compared to’
nothing but that of the firft Ottoman emperors. —

Like thefe, the Great Sun is abfolute mafter of

the lives and eftates of his fubjeéts, which he

difpofes of at his pleafure, his will being the

only Jaw; but he has this fingular advantage
over the Ottoman princes, that he has no occa-
| fion

Se.

MW OU MSE TANIA. 8x

fion to fear any feditious tumults, or any con-
{piracy againft his perfon. If he orders a man
guilty of a capital crime to be put to death,
the criminal neither fupplicates, nor procures
jnterceflion to be made for his life, nor attempts
torun away. The order of the fovereign is
executed on the fpot, and nobody murmurs.
But however abfolute the authority of the
Great Sun may be, and altho’ a number of
warriors and others attach themfelves to him,
to ferve him, to follow him wherever he goes;
and to hunt for him, yet he raifes no ftated
impofitions; and what he receives from thofe
| people appears given, not fo much as a right
| due, asa voluntary homage, and a teftimony of
_ their love and gratitude.

The Natches begin their year in the month
of March, as was the practice a long time in
-Eurofe, and divide it into thirteen moons. At
"every new moon they celebrate a feaft, which
takes its name from the principal fruits reaped
in the preceding moon, or from the animals
that are then ufually hunted. I fhall give an
account of one or two of thefe feafts as con-
|. eifely as I can. |

5 « 4

‘The

186 EOE oR DS aoa Y)

The firt moon is called that of the Deer; |!
and begins their new year, which is celébrated
by them with univerfal joy, and is at the fame |!
time an anniverfary memorial of one of the moft |
interefting events in their hiftory. In former /
times a Great Sun, upon hearing a fadden tus ||
mult in his village, had left his hut ina great '
hurry, in order to appeafe it, and fell into the }
hands of his enemies; but was quickly after ‘
refcued by his warriors, who repulfed the in- #
vaders, and put them to flight. In order to 4
preferve the remembrance of this honourable
exploit, the warriors divide themfelves into two |
bodies, diftinguithed from each other by the i
colour of their feathers. One of thefe bodies !
reprefents the invaders, and after raifing loud |
fhouts and cries, feize the Great Sun, who ¢
comes out of his hut undreft, and rubbing his :
eyes, as.tho’ he were juft awake. The Great i
Sun defends himfelf intrepidly with a wooden 1
tomahawk, and lays a great many. of his ene-
mies upon the ground, without however give |
ing them a fingle blow, for he only feems to’
touch them with his weapon. In the mean
time the other party come out of their am- !
bufcade, attack the invaders, and, after fight :
ing with them for fome time, refcue their prince, | :
and drive them into a wood, which is re epre- |)
fented —

OF oD OUST RNA. 187

fented by an arbour made of canes, During
the whole time of the fkirmifh, the parties
keep up the war-cry, or the cry of terror, as
each of them feem to be victors or vanquifhed.
The Great Sun is brought back to his hut in
a triumphant manner; and the old men, wo-
men, and children, who were {pectators of the
engagement, rend the fky with their joyful ac-
clamations. The Great Sun continues in his
hut about half an hour, to repofe himfelf after
his great fatigues, which are fuch that an actor
of thirty years of age would with difficulty
have fupported them, and he however, when I
faw this feait, was above ninety, He then
makes his appearance again to the people, who
falute him with loud acclamations, which ceafe
upon:his proceeding towards the temple. When
he is arrived'in the middle of the court before
the temple he makes feveral gefticulations, then
ftretches out his arms ‘horizontally, and re-
mains in that pofture motionlefs as a ftatue for
half an hour. He is then relieved by the maf-
ter of the ceremonies, who places himfelf in
the fame attitude, and half an hour after is
relieved by the great chief of war, who re-
mains. as long in the fame pofture. When this
ceremony is over, the Great Sun, who, when
he was relieved, had returned to his hut, ap-
pear

183 LE ES Sea Re

pears again before the people in the ornament
of his dignity, is placed upon ‘his thrones!
which is a large ftool with four feet cut ouf
of one piece of wood, has a fine bufaloe’s fkin|
thrown over his fhoulders, and feveral furs laid
upon his feet, and receives various prefenté
from the women, who all the while continue tc!
exprefs their joy by their fhouts and acclama-|
tions. Strangers are then invited to dine with
the Great Sun, and in the evening there is aj
dance in his hut, which is about thirty feet
fquare, and twenty feet high, and like the tem-i
ple is built upon a mount of earth, about
eight feet high, ia fixty feet over on the fur~:
face.

,

The fecond moon, which anfwers to our
Abril, is called the Strawverry moon, as:

that fruit abounds then in great quantities.

sa

The third moon is that of the Small corn.,
This moon is often impatiently looked for,
their crop of large corn never fufhicing to nou- ,
~ rith them from one harveft to another, Hh i
, a

The fourth is that of Water melons, and ane:
{wers to our June. bh ye

iv

OF LOUISIANA. .189

The fifth moon is that of the Fi/bes : in this
month alfo they gather grapes, if the birds have
fuffered them to ripen.

| The fixth, which anfwers to our 4ugu/?, is

|

that of the Mulberries. At this feaft they like-
wife carry fowls to the Great Sun.

_ The feventh, which is that of Maiz, or Great
Corn. This feaft is beyond difpute the moft fo-
lemn of all. It principally confifts in eating in
common, and in areligious manner, of new
corn, which had been fown exprefly with that
defign, with fuitable ceremonies. This corn
q fown upon a fpot of ground never before cul-
tivated ; which ground is dreffed and prepared
by the warriors alone, who- alfo are the only
perfons that fow the corn, weed it, reap it, and
gather it. When this corn is near ripe, the
warriors fix ona place proper for the general
fealt, and clofe adjoining to that they forma
round granary, the bottom and fides of which
are of cane; this they fill with the corn, and
when they have finifhed the harveft, and co-
Wwered the granary, they acquaint the Great
Sun, who appoints the day for the general feaft.
Some days before the feaft, they build huts for
the Great Sun, and for all the other families,
| ‘y round

£

Cs pS So a a ap a a a
’ Sicrrer

ee
ee ee

high. On the feaft day the whole nation fe}

‘tation is repeated by the whole nation, whc
_ pronounce the word doo nine times diftinglly.

go TH ELHIS TORY

round the granary, that of the Great Sun bein
raifed upona mount of earth about two fee!

out from their village at fun-rifing, leaving be.
hind only the aged and infirm that are not abi
to travel, and a few warriors, who are to carry,
the Great Sun on a litter upon their fhoulders*
The feat of this litter is covered with fevera,
deer f{kins, and to its four fides are faftened fou!
bars which crofs each other, and are. fupportec’
by eight men, who at every hundred. pace’!
transfer their burden to eight other men, anc
thus fucceflively tranfport it to the place where
the feaft is celebrated, which may be near twc
miles from the village. About nine o ‘clock
ihe Great Sun comes out of his hut dreffed i
the ornaments of his dignity, and being placec
in his litter, which has a canopy at the heac
formed of flowers, he is carried in a few mi:
nutes to the facred granary, fhouts of joy re-
echoing on all fides. Before he alights he make
the tour of the whole place deliberately, anc
when he comes before the corn he falutes i
thrice with the words, hoo, hoo, hoo, length’
ened and pronounced refpectfully, The fala’

»

Ora Oo U Tas) TLiAeNswA. -193

_and at the ninth time he alights and places ~
| him(felf on his throne.

Immediately after they light a fire by rubbing
_two pieces of wood violently againft each other,
and when every thing is prepared for drefling
the corn, the chief of war, accompanied by the
warriors belonging to each family, prefents him-
| ‘felf before the throne, and addreffes the Sun in
_ thefe words, Speak, for I hear thee. The fo-
-vereign then rifes up, bows towards the four
quarters of the world, and advancing to the
_ granary, lifts his eyes and hands to ae and
fays, “* Give us. corn:” upon which the great
chief of war, the princes and princeffes, and all
the men, thank him feparately, by pronouncing
‘the word feo. Thecornis then diftributed, firft
to the female: Suns, and then to all the women,
who run with it to, their huts, and drefs it
_with the utmoft difpatch. When the corn is -
“dreffed j inall the huts, a plate of it is put into
| the hands of the Great Sun, who prefents it to
the four quarters of the world, and then fays

to the chief of war, eat; upon this fignal the
: y warriors begin to eat in allthe huts; after them
| the boys of whatever age, excepting thofe who
are on the breaft; and laft of all the women, When
the warriors have finifhed their repaft, they
I Bice form

ig?) THE SHIS TORY

form themfelves into two choirs before the huts,
-and fing war fongs for half an hour; after
which the chief of war, and all the warriors in
fucceflion, recount their brave exploits, and

mention, in a boafting manner, the number of !

enemies they have flain. The youths are next

allowed to harangue, and each tells in the beft |

manner he can, not-what he has done, but what |

he intends to do; and if his difcourfe merits
approbation, he is anfwered by a general 400;
if not, the warriors hang down down their heads
and are filent.

This great folemnity is concluded it a
general dance by torch-light. Upwards of 200 {

torches of dried canes, each of the thicknefs of a a

child, are lighted round the place, where the men

and women often continue dancing till day light ;

and the following is the difpofition of their dance.
A man places himfelf on the ground with a pot °

covered with a deer-fkin, in the manner of a '

drum, to beat time to the dancers, round him

the women form themfelves into a circle, not |

joining hands, but at fome diftance from each

or calabafh, with a ftick thruft thro’ it to ferve

women

other ; and they are inclofed by the men in an- |

other circle, who have in each hand a chichicois,
B |
fora handle. When the dance begins, the |

i

OF LOUISIANA. 193

women move round the man in the center, from
left to right, and the men contrariwife from

right to left, and they fometimes narrow and
| fometimes widen their circles. In this manner

‘the dance continues without intermiffion the
whole night, new performers fucceflively tak-

ing the place of thofe who are wearied and fa--

tigued.

®

Next morning no perfon is feen abroad be-
fore the Great Sun comes out of his hut, which

_ is generally about nine o'clock, and then upon

a fignal made by the drum, the warriors make
their appearance, diftinguifhed into two troops
by the feathers which they wear on their heads.
One of thefe troops is headed by the Great Sun,

and the other by the chief of war, who begin
anew diverfion by toffing a ball of deer-fkin

fiuffed with Stani/b beard from the one to the

other. The warriors quickly take part in the

fport, and a violent conteft enfues which of

_ the two parties fhall drive the ball to the hut of

the oppofite chief. The diverfion generally |
latts two hours, and the victors are allowed to |

wear the feathers of fuperiority till the follow-
ing year,.or till the next time they play at-the

ball. After this the warriors perform the war
dance; and laft of all they goand bathe; an ex-

‘VOL. I. K | ercife

eon §TIHS®) HIS T.ORY

ercife which they are very fond of when they are

heated or fatigued.

The reft of that day is employed as the pre-
ceding ; for the feaft holds as long as any of the -
corn remains. When it is all eat up, the Great |

Sun is carried back in his litter, and they all re- |

turn to the village, after which he fends the war-
riors tohunt both for themfelves and him, _

The eighth moon is that of Turkies, and mr

{wers to our Oéfober.

The ninth moon is that of the Bufalo; and |

_ ft is then they go to hunt that animal. Having |

aifcovered whereabouts the herd feeds, they go _
out in a body to hunt them. Young and old, |
girls and married women, except thofe who |

are with child, are all of the party, for there

is generally work for them all. Some nations

are a little later in going out to this hunting,

that they may find the cows fatter; and the herds |

snore numerous.

The tenth moon is that of Bears; at this

time of hunting the feafts are not fo grand and

folemn, becaufe great part of the nations are

accompanying the hunters in their expeditions. |

The

as

OF LOUISIANA. tog
- The eleventh anfwers to our January, and
is named the Cold-meal moon. The twelfth is

that of Che/nuts. That fruit has been gathered
long before, neverthelefs it gives its name to

‘this moon.

Laftly, the thirteenth is that of Walnuts, and

“itis added to compleat the year. It is them

they break the nuts to make bread of them by
mixing with them the flour of maiz.

_. The feafts which I faw celebrated in the chief
-willage of the Natches, which is the refidence of

the Great Sun, are celebrated in the fame man-

heer in all the villages of the nation, which are
. each governed by a Sun, who is fubordinate to

_the Creat Sun, and acknowledge his abfolute
| authority.

It is not to be conceived how exact thefe
people are in affigning the pre-eminence to

the men. In every affembly, whether of the
whole nation in general, or of feveral families
_ together, or of one fingle family, the youngeft

boys have the preference to the women of the
moft advanced age; and at their meals, when
their food is diftributed, none is prefented to

the women, till all the males have received their

K 2 fhare,

96 THE HISTORY
‘fhare; fo that a boy of two years old is ferved
before his mother.

The women being always employed, without
ever being diverted from their duty, or feduced —
by the gallantries of lovers, never think of ob-
jeCting to the propriety of a cuftom, in which — )
‘they have been conftantly brought up. Never
having feen any example that contradiéted it,
they have not the leaft idea of varying from it.
Thus being fubmiflive from habit, as well as
from reafon, they, by their docility, maintain
that peace in their families, which they find 4a
eftablifhed upon entering them,

-

OF LOUISIANA. 197

le SECT. Il

Of their marriages, ana diftinétion of
7 ranks.

ATERNAL authority, as [have elfewhere’
obferved, is not lefs facred and inviolable
than the pre-eminence of the men. It ftill fub-
fifts among the Natches, fuch as it was in the’
fir ft ages of the world. The children belong to
the father, and while he lives they are under his
power. They live with him, they, their wives,
and their children; the fame hut contains the
whole family. The old man alone commands
there, and nothing but death puts an end to his:
empire. As thefe people have feldom or rather
never any differences among them, the paternal
‘authority appears in nothing more confpicuous |
than in the marriages. ie

When the boys and girls arrive at the perfect
age of puberty, they vifit each other familiares —
ly, and are fuffered fo to do. The girls, fen-
ible that they will be no longer miftreffes of
their heart when once they are married, know
how to difpofe of it to advantage, and form
their wardrobe by the fale of their favours; for
there, as well as in other countries, nothing
3 for

198 THE HIS Ter y

for nothing. The lover, far from having any
thing to. obje€t to this, on the contrary rates
the merit of his future fpoufe, in proportion
to the fruits fhe has produced, But when.
they are married they have no longer any in-:
trigues, neither the hufband nor the wife, be-
caufe their heart is no longer their own, They
may divorce their wives: it is, however, fo rare
to fee the man and wife part, that during the
eight years I lived’in their neighbourhood, F
knew but one example of it, and then cach took
with them the children of their own fex.

If a young man has obtained’ a girl’s confent,.
and they defire to marry, it is not their fathers,

and much lefs their mothers, or male or female:

relations who take upon them to. conclude the

match ; it is the heads of the two families alone,

who are ufually great-grandfathers and fome-.

umes more. Thefe two old men have an ine

terview, in which, after the young man has.

formally made a demand of the girl, they exa-
sine if there be any relation between the two
parties, and if any, what degree it is; for they

do not marry within the third degree. Not-

withftanding this interview, and the two par-

ties be found not within the prohibited degrees,

yet if the propofed wife be difagreeable to the

: father,

OF LOUISIANA. 199
father, grandfather, &e. of the hufband, the
match is never concluded. On the other hand,
ambition, avarice, and the other paffions, fo
common with us, never ftifle in the breafts of
the fathers thofe digtates of nature, which make
us defire to fee ourfelves perpetuated in our off
fring, nor influence them to thwart their chil-
dren improperly, and much lefs to force their
inclinations. By an admirable harmony, very
worthy of our imitation, they only marry thofe’
who love one another, and thofe who love one
another are only married when their parents
agree to it. It is rare for young men to marry
before they be five and twenty. Till they ar~
rive at that age they are looked upon as too
weak, without underftanding and experience. ~

When the marriage-day is once fixed, prepa
rations are made for it both by the men and
women, the men go a hunting, and the women

_ prepare the maiz, and deck ont the young man’s
cabin to the beft of their power. On the wed-
ding-day the old man on the part of, the girl
leaves his hut, and conduéts the bride to the
hut of the bridegroom ; his whole family fol-
low him in order and filence; thofe who are in-
clined to laugh or be merry, indulging them-
{elves only in a fmile. ,

sea He:

200 TPE CH TS THO RY
He finds before the other hut all the relations |)
of the bridegroom, who receive and falute him
with their ufual expreffion of congratulation,
namely, hoo, hoo, repeated feveral times. When
he enters the hut, the old man on the part
of the bridegroom fays to him, in their lan-
Huage, are you there? to which he anfwers,
yes. He is next defired to fit down, and then
not a word paffes for near ten minutes, it being
one of their prudent cuftoms to fuffer a gueft to
reft himfelf a little after his arrival, before they
beginaconverfation: and befides, they look upon
the time fpent in compliments as thrown away.

After both the old men are fully refted, they

rife, and the bridegroom and bride appearing
before them, they afk them, if they love each
other? and if they are willing to take one an-
other for man and wife? obferving to them at
the fame time, that they ought not to mairy
unlefs they propofe to live amicably together,
that no body forces them, and that as they are
each other’s free choice, they will be thruft out
of the family if they do not live in peace. After
this remonftrance the father of the bridegroom
delivers the prefent which his fon is to make
into his. hands, the bride’s father at the fame
time placing himfelf by her fide. ‘The bride-
31 groom,

OF LOUISIANA 20%
groom then addreffes the bride; ‘* Will you
have me for your hufband?” She anfwers,
“ Moft willingly, and it gives me joy; love.
me, as well as I love you; for I love, and*ever
will love none but you.” At thefe words the
bridegroom covers the head of the bride with
the prefent which he received from his father,
and fays to her, ‘¢ I love you, and have there-
fore taken you for my wife, and this I give to
your parents, to purchafe you.” He then gives
the prefent to the bride’s father. .

%

The hufband wears a tuft of feathers faftened
to his hair, which is in the form of acue, and’
hangs over his left ear, to whichis faftened a
fprig of oak with the Jeaves on, and in his lefte -
hand he bears a bow and arrows. The young
wife bears in her left-hand a fall branch le
jaurel; and in her right a ftalk of maiz, which _
was delivered to her by her mother at the time -
fie received the prefent from her hufband.
This ftalk fhe prefents to her hufband, who »
takes it from her with his right-hand, and fays, .
J am your hufband 5” fhe antwers, and “1.
am your wife.” They then fhake hands reci-
‘procally with each other’s relations; after which
_ hedeads her towards the bed, and fays, “There

3 KS 18

202 THE HISTORY
is our bed, keep it tight ;” which is as much ass.
to fay, do not defile the nuptial. bed.

The marriage ceremony being thus conclud--
ed, the bridegroom and the bride, with their
friends, fitdown.to a.repaft, and in the evening:
they begin their dances, which continue often:
till day-light.

The nation ef the Matches is compofed of
nobility and common people.. The common
people are named in their language Aiche-.
Miche-Quipy, that is, Stinkards; a name how--
ever which gives them great offence, and which |
it is proper to avoid pronouncing before them,.
as it would not fail to put them into avery bad -
humour. “The common people are to the laft
degree fubmiffive to the nobility, who are di-
vided into Suns, nobles, and men of rank.

The Suns are the defcendants of the man
and woman who pretended to have come down
from the fun. Among the other Jaws they gave _
to the Natches, they ordained that their race
fhould always be diftinguifhed from the bulk of
the nation, and that none of them fhould ever
be put to death upon any account. They efta-

: blithed aa) |

Ale

among no other people, except a nation of
Scythians mentioned by Herodotus. They or-

dained that nobility fhould only be tranfmitted.

by the women. Their male and female chil-

dren were equally named Suns, and regarded as
fuch, but with this difference, that the males:
enjoyed this privilege only in their own perfon,

| cand during their own lives. Their children

had only the title of nobles, and the male chil-

dren of thofe nobles were only men of rank,

Thofe men of rank, however, if they diftin-
guifhed themfelves by their warlike exploits, -
might raife themfelves again to the rank of |
nobles; but'their children became only men of
rank, and the children of thofe men of rank,.

as well as of the others, were confounded with

the common people, and clafled among the:
__ Stinkards. ‘Thus as thefe people are very long- 3
lived, and frequently fee the fourth generation,

it often happens that a Sun fees fome of his
pofterity among the Stinkards ; but they are at
| great pains to conceal this degradation of their

race, efpecially from ftrangers, and almoft to-

: tally difown thofe great-grand children ; for

when they fpeak of them they only fay, they”

are dear to them. It is otherwife with the fe-
_ male pofterity.of the Suns, for they continue
a MRS Bal 9 thro’

OF LOUISIANA. 203:

blifhed likewife another ufage which is found

ae

204 THER HIS TORY

thro’ all generations to enjoy their rank. The
defcendants of the Suns being pretty numerous,
it might be expected that thofe who are out of
the prohibited degrees might intermarry, rather
than ally with the Stinkards; but a moft bare
barous cuftom obliges them to their mif-alliances.
When any of the Suns, either male or female,
die, their law ordains that the hufband or wife
of that Sun fhall be put to death on the day
of the interment of the deceafed: Now as an-
other law prohibits the iffie of the Suns from
being put to death, itis therefore impoffible for
the defcendants of the Suns to match with each
other,

‘Whether it be that they are tired of this law,
or that they wifh their Suns defcended of French
blood, { fhall not determine ; but the wife of
the Great Sun came one day to vifit me {o early.
in the morning that I was not got ont of bed.
She was accompanied with her only daughter,
a girl between fourteen and fifteen years of age,
handfome and well fhaped; but the only fent in
her own name by my flave; fo that without
getting up I made no {cruple of defiring her to

~ comein. When her daughter appeared I was

not a little furprifed ; but I fhook hands with

them both, and defired them to fit down. The 4

dau ghter!

lle ar

OF LOUISIANA. 205

daughter fat down on the foot of my bed, and

kept her eyes continually fixed on me, while
the mother addreffed herfelf to me in the moft
ferious and pathetic tone. After fome compli-

- ments to me, and commendations of our cuftoms

and manners, fhe condemned the barbarous
ufages that prevailed among themfelves, and
ended with propofing me as a hufband for her
daughter, that I might have it in my power to
civilize their nation by abolifhing their inhu-
man cuftoms, and introducing thofe of the
French. As1 forefaw the danger of fuch an
alliance, which would be oppofed by the whole
nation of the Natches, and at the fame time
was fenfible that the refentment of a flighted
woman is very formidable, I returned her fuch
an anfwer as might fhew my great refpect.for
her daughter, and prevent her from making. the
{ame application to fome brainlefs Frenchman,
who by accepting the offer might expofe the
French fettlement to fome difaftrous event. 1
told her that her daughter was handfome, and
pleafed me much, as fhe had a good heart, and a
well turned mind; but the laws we received

from the Great Spirit, forbad us to marry wo-
~ men who did not pray; and that thofe French-
“men who lived with their daughters took them

only for a time; but it was not proper that the
: : daughter

rime pa ee a i ed

a ne ET

iv.

ey

m6 THE HISTORY
daughter of the Great Sun thould be difpofed
of in that manner. The mother acquiefced in
my reafons ; but when they took their leave I.
perceived plainly that the daughter was far from
being fatisfied. I never faw her from that day
forwards ; and I heard fhe ‘was foon after. mar--
ried to another.

From this: relation the reader may perceive:
that there needs nothing but prudence.and good.
fenfe to perfuade thofe people to what is reafon-
able, and to preferve their friendfhip without’
interruption. Wemay fafely affirm that the dif:
ferences we have had with them have been more ~
owing to the French than to.them. When they
are treated infolently or oppreffively, they have
no lefs fenfibility of injuries-than others; If:
thofe who have occafion to live among them,.
will but have fentiments of humanity, they will:
in them meet with men,

-. acknowledge a fapreme Being, but they never

GE EOUISIANA. 20%

Se CST IM.

Of the temples, tombs, burials,. and. other
religions ceremonics-of the people of Loui-
fiana.

J SHALL now proceed’ to give fome account

. of the cuftoms that prevail in general among
all the nations of North America ; and thefe:
have a great refemblance to each other, as
there is hardly any difference in the manner of
thinking and acting among: the feveral nations. -
Thefe people have no religion expreffed by any:
external worthip: The ftrongeft evidences thar
we difcover of their having any religion at-all,
are their temples, and the eternal fire therein:
Kept up by fomeof them. Some ot them indeed _
do not keep up the eternal fire, and have turned |
their temples into charnel-houfes.

However, all thofe people, without exception,

on any account addrefs their prayers to him,
from their fixt belief that God, whom they call
the Great Spirit, is fo good, that he cannot do

" ie ) evil,

te

2068 THE HISTORY

evil, whatever provocation he may have. They:
believe the exiftence of two Great Spirits, a
good anda bad. They do not, as I have faid,

~ invoke the Good Spirit; but they pray to the
bad, in order to avert ffom their perfons and
pofleffions the evils which he might infliG upon
them. They pray to the evil {pirit, not be-
caufe they think him almighty; for it is the
Good Spirit whom they believe {o ; but becaufe,
according to them,. he governs the air, the fea-
fons, the rain, the fine weather, and all that
may benefit or hurt the produétions of the
earth,

They are very fuperftitious in. refpet to the

flight of birds, and the paflage of fome animals
that are feldom feen in their country,. They
are much inclined to hear.and believe. diviners,
efpecially in regard to difcovering things to
come; and they are kept up in their errors
by the Jongleurs, who find their account in
them.

_ The natives have all the fame: manner of
bringing up their children, and are in general
well fhaped, and their limbs are juftly propor-
tioned. The Chicafaws are the moft fierce and

arrogant,

4

OF LOUISIANA. 209°

arrogant, which they undoubtedly owe to their
frequent intercourfe with the Englifh of Gare-
lina. They are brave ; a difpofition they may
have inherited as the remains of that martial
{pirit that prompted them to invade their neigh-
bouring nations, by which they themfelves
were at length greatly weakened. All the na-
tions on the north of the colony are likewife
brave, but they are more humane than the Chi-
cafaws, and have not their high-fpirited pride,
All thefe nations of the north, and all thofe
of Louifiana, have been inviolably attached to
ous ever fince our eftablifhment in this colony.
‘The misfortune of the Natches, who, without
difpute, were the fineft of all thofe nations, and |
who loved us, ought not in the leaft to leflen
our fentiments of thofe people, who are in ge-
neral diftinguithed for their natural goodneis of
charaéter. All thofe nations are prudent, and
fpeak little; they are fober in their diet, but
they are paifionately fond of brandy, tho’ they.
are fingular in never tafting any wine, and nei-
ther know nor care to learn any compofition of
liquors. In their meals they content themfelves
with maiz prepared various ways, and fome-
times they ufe fifh and flefh. The meat that
they eat is chiefly recommended to them. for
. being

26 0-Cd THE HISTORY

being wholefome;. and therefore I Hive conjec-
tured that dog’s flefh, for which we have fuch ar
averfion, muft however be as good as it is beau
tiful, fince they rate it fo highly as to ufe it by
Way of preference in their feafts of ceremony.

_ They eat no young game, as they find. plenty of
the largeft fize, and do- not think delicacy of
tafte alone any recommendation; and therefore, |
in general, they would not tafte our ragouts, but, |
condemning them as unwholefome, prefer to» #
them gruel made of maiz,. called in the colony
Sagamitys ,

&

Fhe Chatiaws are the only ugly peopleamong: ;

all the nations in Louifiana; which is chiefly ,

“ owing to the fat with which they rub their ,
__fkin and their hair, and to their manner of de= |
“fending themfelves againft the mofkitos, which — i
they keep off by lighting fires. of fir-wood, and. |
ftanding in the fmoke.. !

i

Altho’ all the people of Eouifana have nearly |
the fame ufages-and cuftoms, yet as any nation. |
is more or le{s populous, it. has proportionally +
more or fewer ceremonies. Thus when the. |

French firft arrived in the colony, feveral nations
kept up the eternal fire, and obferved other
= religious.” |

OFSoTfOUIS T-AN A. ere

religions ceremonies, which they have now dif-
| ufed, fince their numbers have been greatly di-
‘minifhed. Many of them fill continue to have
‘temples, but the common people never enter
| thefe, nor ftrangers, unlefs peculiarly favoured:
by the nation. As I was.an intimate friend of
the fovereign of the Natches, he fhewed me
their temple, which is about thirty feet {quare,
and ftands upon an artificial mount about eight
feet high, by the fide of a fmall river. The:
| mount flopes infenfibly from the main front,
which is northwards, but on the other fides it
ig fomewhat fteeper. The four corners of the:
temple confift of four pofts, about a foot and:
-an half diameter, and ten feet high, each made:
| of the heart of the cyprefs tree, which is in-
eorruptible. The fide-pofts are of the fame
wood, but only about a foot fquare; and the
walls are of mud, about nine inches thicks fo.
that in the infide there is a hollow between
“every poft. The inner {pace is divided fron
— eaft to weft into two apartments, one of which _
is twice as large as the other. In. the largeft
| apartment the eternal fire is kept, and there is
likewife a table or altar in it, about four feet,
high, fix long, and two broad.. Upon this ta-
ble lie the bones of the late Great Sun in a cof-
| fin of canes very neatly made. In the inner
t apart=-

232 DO AE JEANS yOu ot

apartment, which is very dark, as it receives. |
no light but from the door of communication,
I could meet with nothing but two boards, on
which were placed fome things like fmall toys, .
which I had not light to perufe. The roof is
in the form of a pavilion, and very neat both .
within and without, and on the top of it are
placed three wooden birds, twice as large as a
goofe, with their heads turned towards the eaft,

The corner and fide-pofts, as has been men- }
tioned, rife above the earth ten feet high, and l
it is faid they are as much funk under ground;
if cannot therefore but appear furprifing how _
the natives could tranfport fuch large beams, —
fafhion them, and raife them upright, when '

ki

we know of no machines they had for that pur~ |
pole. Befides the eight guardians of the tem-
ple, two of whom are always on watch, and -
the chief of thofe guardians, there alfo belongs —
to the fervice of the temple a mafter of the eee J
remonies, who is alfo mafter of the myfteries;.
fince, according to them, he converfes very fa-.
miliarly with the Spirit. Above all thefe per-.
fons is the Great Sun, who is at the fame time
chief prieft and fovereign of the nation. The, |
remples-of fome of the nations of Lowifana are
very mean, and one would often be apt to mif-
take them for the huts of private perfons; bus |

©F LOUISIANA. 233

i. Se ‘ ; < a Bia ®

to thofe who are acquainted with their man-
ners, they are eafily diftinguifhable, as they
‘have always before the door two pofts formed
“fike the antient Termini, that is, having the
‘upper part cut into the fhape of a man’s head.
The door of the temple, which is pretty weigh-
ty, is placed between the wall and thofe two
pofts, fo that children may not be able to re-
“move it, to go and playin the temple. The
private huts have alfo polts before their doors,
‘but thefe are never formed like Termini.

i

| - None of the nations of Louifiana are acquaint-
ed with the cuftom of burning their dead,
_ which was prattifed by the Greeks and Romans ;
| nor with that of the Egypizans, who ftudied to
preferve them to perpetuity. The different
| American nations have a moft religious attention
for their dead, and each have fome peculiar
cuftoms in refpect to them; but all of them
| either inter them, or place them in tombs, and
‘carefully carry victuals to them for fome time.
“‘Thefe tombs are either within their temples,
lor clofe adjoining to them,’or in their neigh-
~“bourhood. ‘They are raifed about three feet
above the earth, and reft upon four pillars,
- which are forked ftakes fixed faft in the ground.
| The tomb, or rather bier, is about eight feet

| tats long,

214 THE HISTORY
jong, and a foot and a half broad; and after!
the body is placed upon it, a kind of bafket-).
work of twigs is wove round it, and covered!
with mud, an opening being left at the head |
. for placing the victuals that are prefented to
the dead perfon. When the body is all rotted.
but the bones, thefe are taken out-of the tomb, |
and placed in a box of canes, which is depofited
in the temple. They ufuall; y weep and lament
for their dead three days; but for thofe whe
are killed in war, they make a much longer and |
# more grievous lamentation.

Atnong the Watches the death of any-of their
Suns, as I have before obferved, is a moft fatal _
event; for it is fure to be attended with the |
‘deftruction of a great number of people of |
both fexes. Early in the fpring, 172 5 the |
Stung Serpent, who was the brother of the
Great Sun, and my intimate friend, was feized |

‘with a mortal diftemper, which filled the whole |
nation of the Watches with the greateft confter- |
nation and terror; for the two. brothers had |
mutually engaged to fellow each. other to the |
Jand of {pirits; and if the Great Sun thould —
kill himfelf for the fake of his brother, very
‘many people would likewife be put to death.
When the Stung Serpent was defpaired of, the
chief of the guardians of the. temple came to

a me

!

QF LOUVUS LAN A. arg
me in the greateft confufion, and acquainting
me with the mutual engagements of the two

prothers, begged of me to intereft myfelf in

preferving the Great Sun, and confequently a
great part of the nation, He made the fame
granet tothe commander of the fort. Accord-

ingly we were no fooner informed of the death

‘of the Stung Serpent, than the commander,

fome of the principal Frenchmen, and 1, went
in a body to the hut of the Great Sun. We

i found him in defpair; but, after fome time,
he feemed to be influenced by the arguments

I ufed to diffuade him from putting himfelf to
death. The death of the Stung Serpent was
publifhed by the firing of two mufkets, which
avere anfwered by the other villages, and im-
mediately cries and lamentations were heard
onall fides. The Great Sun, in the mean time,

remained inconfolable, and fat bent forwards

with his eyes towards the ground. In the even-

ing, while we were fill in his hut, he made

afign to his faveurite wife; who in confe-
quence of that threw a pailful of water on
‘the fire, and extinguifhed it. This was a fig-

nal for extinguifhing all the fires of the nation,

and filled every one with terrible alarms, as it
‘denoted that the Great Sun was ftill refolved
to put himfelf to death, I gently chided him

for

~

216 4 OVE 71 8 oD Or ey

for altering his former refolution, but he af-
fured me that he had not, and defired us to go
and fleep fecurely. We accordingly left him,
pretending to rely on the affurance he had given
us; but we took up our lodging in the hut of |
his chief fervants, and ftationed a foldier at the
door of his hut, whom we ordered to give us”
notice of whatever happened. ‘There was no’ |
need to fear our being betrayed by the wife of
the Great Sun, or any others about him ; for
none of them had the leaft inclination to die,
if they could help it. On the contrary, they |
all expreffed the greateft thankfulnefs and gra-
titude to us for our endeavours to avert the
threatened calamity from their nation.

Before we went to our lodgings we entered the
hut of the deceafed, and found him on his bed

of ftate, dreffed in his fineft cloaths, his face
painted with vermilion, fhod as if fora jour-
ney, with his feather-crown on his head. “To -
his bed were faftened his arms, which confifted i |
of a double-barreled gun, a piftol, a bow, a
quiver full of arrows, and a tomahawk. Round :
‘his bed were placed all the calumets of peace
he had reccived during his life and on a pole,
planted ia the ground near it, hung a chain of

‘forty-fix rings of cane painted red, to exprefs |
. 3

Ramin ‘ ssaitoal
ST stance eerie oe

OF LOUISIANA. 317

/

the number of enemies he had flain. All his
domefticks were round him, and they prefent-
_ ed vidtuals to him at the ufual hours, as if he
| were alive. The company in his hut were com-
pofed of his favourite wife, of a fecond wife,
which he keptin another village, and vifited
when his favourite was with child; of his chan-
cellor, his phyfician, his chief domeftic, his
pipe-bearer, and fome old women, who were
all to be ftrangled at his interment. To thefe
victims a noble woman voluntarily joined her-
felf, refolving, from her friendfhip.to the Stung |
Serpent, to go and live with him in the country
of fpirits. I regretted her on many accounts.
but particularly as fhe was intimately acquaint-
ed with the virtues of fimples, had by her fkill
faved many of our people’s lives, and given me
many ufeful inftru@tions. After we had fatif-
fied our curiofity in the hut of the deccafed,
we retired to our hut, where we fpent the night.

But at day-break we were fuddenly awaked,
and told that it was with difficulty the Great
_ Sun was kept from killing himfelf. We haft-

| ened to his hut, and upon entering it I re-
marked difmay and terror painted upon the
countenances of all who were prefent. The

Great Sun held his gun by the butt-end, and
feemed enraged that the other Suas had feized
VoL, I. HR upon

8° PRP BIS. BO RY

upon it, to prevent him from executing his
purpofe. I addrefled myfelf to him, and after
opening the pan of the lock, to let the priming
fall out, I chided him gently for his not acting
according to his former refolution. He pre-
tended at firft not to fee me; but, after fome
time, he let go his hold of the mufket, and
fhook hands with me without fpeaking a word.
I then went towards his wife, who all this
while had appeared in the utmoft agony and ter-
ror, and I afked her if fhe was ill. She an-
iwered mé, ‘‘Yes, very ill,” and added, ‘if
you leave us, my hufband is a dead man, and all
the Watches will die; flay then, for he opens
his ears only to your words, which have. the
fharpnefs and ftrength of arrows. You are his
true friend, and do not laugh when you fpeak,
like moft of the Frenchmen.” ‘The Great Sun
at length confented to order his fire to be again
lighted, which was the fignal for lighting the
other fires of the nation, ‘and difpelled all their
apprehenfions.

Soon after the natives begun the dance of _
death, and prepared for the funeral of the
Stung Serpent. Orders were given to put none |
yo death on that occafion, but thofe who were
ja the hut of the deceafed. A child however ||

q “tad |

OF LOUIBTAN'A. atg

had been already ftrangled by its father and mo-
ther, which ranfomed their lives upon the death
of the Great Sun, and raifed them from the
rank of Stinkards to that of Nobles. Thofe
who were appointed to die were conduéted
twice a day, and placed in two rows, before
the temple, where they a¢ted over the fcene of
their death, each accompanied by eight of their
own relations who were to be their executioners,
and by that office exempted themfelves from
dying upon the death of any of the funs, and

_likewife raifed themfelves to the dignity of men
of rank.

“Mean while thirty warriors br ought in a pri-
foner, who had formerly been married toa fe-
male fun; but, upon her death, inftead of fub-

| mitting to die with her, had fled to New Or-
leans, and offered to become the hunter and
flave of our commander in chief. The com-
mander accepting: his offer, and granting him
his protection, he often vifited his countrymen,
who, out of complaifance to the commander,
never offered to apprehend him : but that officer
being now returned to France, and the run-
away appearing in the neighbourhood, he was
now apprehended, and numbered among the
other victims. Finding himfelf thus unexpec-

* L2 tedly

220 THELAIS T ORLY

tedly trapped, he began to cry bitterly; but
three very old women, who were his relations,
offering to die in his ftead, he was not only
again exempted from death, but raifed to the
dignity of amanof rank. Upon this he after-
‘wards became infolent, and profiting by what
he had {een and learned at Mew Orleans, he
eafily, on many occafions, made his fellow-
countrymen his dupes, |

On the day of the interment, the wife of the
deceafed made a very moving fpeech to the
French who were prefent, recommending her
children, to whom fhe alfo addreffed herfelf,
to their friendfhip, and advifing a perpetual
union between the two nations. Soon after
the mafter of the ceremonies appeared in a red-
feathered crown, which half encircled his head, |
having a red {taff in his hand in the form of a
crofs, at the end of which hung a garland of |
black feathers. All the upper part of his body
was painted red, excepting his arms, and from
| his girdle to his knees hung a fringe of fea-
thers, the rows of which were alternately white
and red. When he came before the hut of the
deceafed, he faluted him with a great 400, and
then began the cry of death, in which he was

‘followed by the whole people, Immediately
after

OF LOUISIANA. 22%

after the Stung Serpent was brought out an
his. bed of ftate, and was placed on a litter,
_ which fix of the guardians of the temple bore
on their fhoulders. The proceffion then be-
gan, the mafter of the ceremonies walking firit,
and after him the oldeft warrior, holding in one
hand the pole with the rings of canes, and in
the other the pipe of war, a mark of the dig-
nity of the deceafed. Next followed the corpfe,
after which came thofe who were to die at the
interment. The whole proceflion went three
times round the hut of the deceafed, and then
thofe who carried the corpfe proceeded in a cir-
cular kind of march, every turn interfecting the
former, until they came to the temple. At
every turn the dead child was thrown by its.
parents before the bearers of the corpfe, that
they might walk over it; and when the corpie
was placed in the temple the victims Were im-
mediately ftrangled. The Stung Serpent and
his two wives were buried in the fame grave
within the temple; the other victims were in-
tered in different parts, and after the ceremo-
ny they burnt, according to cuftom, the hut of
the deceafed. :

L 3

223 LEE Y & Torey,

Se Cul hew,

Of the arts and manufatlures of the natives,

PAHE arts and manufagtures of the natives

are fo infignificant, when compared with
ours, that I thould not have thought of treating
of them, if fome perfons of diftinction had
not defired me to fay fomething of them, in
order to thew the indufiry of thofe people,
and how far invention could carry them, in fup-
plying thofe wants which human nature is con-
tinually expofed to, |

As they would have frequent occafion for
fire, the manner of lighting it at pleafure muft
have been one of the firft things that they in~
vented. Not having thofe means which we
ufe, they bethought themfelves of another in-
genious method which they generally prattife.
They take a dry dead flick from a tree, about
the thicknefs of their finger, and prefling one
end againft another dry piece of wood, they
turn it round as fwiftly as they can till they
fee the fmoke appear, then blowing gently foon
make the wood flame.

Cute

CEE CUPS TAN A: 223

- Cutting inftruments are almoft continually
wanted ; but as they had no iron, which, of
all metals, is the moft ufeful in human fociety,
they were obliged, with infinite pains, to form
hatchets out of large flints, by fharpening their
thin edge, and making a hole through them for
réceiving the handle. To cut down trees with
thefe axes would have been almoft an impracti-
cable work; they were therefore obliged to
light fires round the roots of them, and to cut
away the charcoal as the fire eat into the

tree. Theyfupplied the want of knives for cutting
their vidtuals with thin fplits of a hard cane,
which they could eafily renew as they wore
out. )

' ‘They made their bows of acacia-wdod, which
is hard and ealily cleft; and at firft their bow-
ftrings were “made of ‘ne bark of the wood,
but now they make them of the thongs of
hides. Their arrows are made of a fhrub
that fends out long fireight thoots ; but they
make fome of fmall hard reeds : thofe that are
intended for war, or again{t the bufalo, the
deer, or large carp, are pointed ‘with the fharp
rae of the armed fith, which is neatly faft-

L, 4 , ened

224 WHE HIST ORY
ened to the head of the arrow with fplits of
~ cane and fith-glue.

The fkins of the beafts which they killed in
hunting naturally prefented themfelves for their
covering; but they muft be dreffed however
before they could be properly ufed. After
much practice they at length difcovered that the
brain of any animal fuffices to drefs its fkin.
To few thofe {kins they ufe the tendons of ani-
- mals beat and fplit into threads, and to Pierce.
the {kins they apply the bone of a heron’s leg,
rea like an awl.

To defend themfelves againft the inclemen-

cies of the weather, they built huts of wood,
which were clofe and ftrong enough to refift
the impetuofity of the wind. Thefe huts are
each a perfe&t {quare; none of them are lefs
than fifteen feet {quare, and fome of them are
more than thirty feet in each of their fronts.
‘Uhey ere&t thefe huts in the following manner :
They bring from the woods feveral young wal-
nut-trees, about four inches in diameter, and ~
thirteen or twenty feet high ; they plant the
flrongeft of thefe in the four corners, and the
others fifteen inches from each other in ftreight
lines, for the fides of the building ; a pole is

then

OF LOUISIANA. 225

then laid horizontally along the fides in the in-
fide, and all the poles are ftrongly.faftened to
it by fplit canes. Then the four corner poles
are bent inwards till they all meet in the cen-
tre, where they are ftrongly faftened together ;
the fide-poles are then bentin the fame direction,
and bound down to the others; after which

- they make a morter of mud mixed with Spanif/a

beard, with which they fill up all the chinks,
leaving no opening but the door, and the mud
they cover both outfide and infide with mats
made of thefplitsof cane. The roof is thatch-
ed with turf and ftraw intermixed, and over
all is laid a mat of canes, which is faftened to
the tops of the walls by the creeping plant.
Thefe huts will laft twenty years without any
repairs. ‘

‘Phe natives having once built for them-
{elves fixed habitations, would next apply them-_
flves to the cultivation of the ground. Ac-
cordingly, near all their habitations, they have
fields of maiz, and of another nourifhing grain’
called Choupichoul, which grows without enl-
ture. For dreffing their fields they invented |

‘houghs, which are formed in the fhape of an JL, _

having the lower part flat and fharp; and to.
take the hutk from their corn they made large.
L 5 wooden

226 THE HISTORY

wooden mortars, by hollowing: the trunks of
trees with fire,

_To prepare their maiz for food, and likewife
their venifon and game, there Was a neceflity
for dreffing them over the fire, and for this pur-
pofe they bethought themfelves of earthen
ware, which is made by the women, who not.
only form the veffel, but dig up and mix the
clay. In this they are tolerable artifts ; they
make kettles of an extraordinary fize, pitchers
with a {male opening, gallon bottles with long
necks, pots or pitchers for their bear oil, which
will hold forty pints; laftly, large and {mall
plates in the French fathion: I had fome made
out of curiofity upon the model of my delf-
ware, which were a very pretty red. For
fifting the flour of their maiz, and for other
ufes, the natives make fieves of various finenefles
of the {plits of cane. To fupply themfelves
with fifh they make nets of the bark of the
Jime-tree ; but the large fith they fhoot with
arrows. |

The beds of the natives are placed round
the fides of their huts, about a foot and a4 half
from the ground, and are formed in this man-
ncr. Six forked flakes fupport two poles, which

are

QE LOUISIANA. 937
are croffed by three others, over which canes
are laid fo clofe as to form an even furface, and
upon thefe are laid feveral bear {kins, which
ferve for the bed furniture; a bufalo’s fkin is
“the coverlet, and a fack {tuft with Spani/h beard
is the bolfter. The women fometimes add to
this furniture of the bed mats wove of canes,
dyed of three colours, which colours in the
weaving are formed into various figures. Thefe
mats render the bottom of the bed ftill fmooth-
er, and in hot weather they remove the bear
{kins and lie upon them. Their feats or ftools,
which they feldom ufe, are about fix or feven
inches high, and the feat and feet are made of
the fame piece. , |

The women likewife make a kind of hamp-
ers to carry corn, flefh, fifh, or any other thing
which they want to tranfport from one place to
another; they are round, deeper than broad,
and of all fizes. Here, as well as in other
countries, the women take fpecial care to lay
up fecurely all their trinkets and finery. They
make bafkets with long lids that roll doubly
over them, and in thefe they place their ear-
rings and pendants, their bracelets, garters,
their ribbands fo: their hair, and their vermil-
lion for painting themfelves, if they have any,

L 6 bot.

223 THe HA STO Rey

but when they have no vermillion they boil
ochre, and paint themfelves with A

Phe women alfo make the mens gah and
garters, and the collars for carrying their bur-
dens. Thefe collars are formed of two belts of
the breadth of the hand of bear’s fkin, drefled .
fo as to foften it, and thefe belts are joined to-
gether by long crofs ftraps of the fame leather,

that ferve to tie the bundles, Which are oftener .
catried by the women than the men. One of
the broad belts goes over their thoulders, and
the other acrofs their forehead, fo that thofe
two parts mutually eafe each other.

The women alfo make feveral works in em-
broidery with the fkin of the porcupine, which
is black and white, and is cut by them into
thin threads, which they dye of different co-’
Jours. Their defigns greatly refemble thofe
which we meet with on Gothic architeGture. i
they are formed of ftraight lines, which when
they meet always crofs each other, or turn off
at. udeetre angles.

“The conveniencies for paffing rivers would
foon be fuggefted to them by the floating of
bani upon the water. Accordingly one of.

j their

OF LOUISIANA. 229

their methods of croffing rivers is upon floats
of canes, which are called by them Cajeu, and are
formed in this manner. They cut a great number
of canes, which they tie up into faggots, part
of which they faften together fideways, and
over thefe they lay a row crofsways, binding all
clofe together, and then launching it into the
water. For carrying a great number of men
with their neceflary baggage, they foon found
it neceflary to have other conveniencies ; and
nothing appeared fo proper for this as fome of
their large trees hollowed; of thefe they ac-
cordingly: made their pettiaugres, which as 1
mentioned above are fometimes fo large as to
carry ten or twelve ton weight. Thede petti-
augres are conducted by fhort oars, called Pa-
gaies, about fix feet long, with broad points,
which are not faftened to the veffel, but ma-
_- naged by the rowers like fhovels.

230 THE HISTORY

SECT. Vi"

Of the attire and diverfions of the natives +
Of their meals and faftings. |

WONHE natives of Louifiana, both men and
women, wear a very thin drefs in the
fummer. During the heats the men wear only
a little apron of deer fkin, dreffed white or d yed
black; but hardly any but chiefs wear black
aprons. Thofe who live in the neighbourhood
of the French fettlements wear aprons of coarfe
limbourgs, a quarter of a yard broad, and the
whole breadth of the cloth, or five quarters
jong; thefe aprons ‘are fattened by a girdle
about their waifts, and are tucked up between
the thighs.

During the heats the women wear only half
a yard of limbourg {tuff about their middle,
which covers them down to the knees ; or in
place of that they ufe deer fkin'; and the reft of
the body both in men and women is naked.

Many of the women wear cloaks of the bark
of the mulberry-tree, or of the feathers of
fwans, turkies, or India ducks. The bark they

take

OF LOUISIANA. 231

_ take from young mulberry fhoots that rife from

the roots of trees that have been cut down; af-

‘ter it is dried in the fun they beat it to make all
>the woody part fall off, and they give the threads

that remain a fecond beating, after which they
bleach them by expofing them to the dew.
When they are well whitened they fpin them
about the coarfenefs of pack-thread, and weave
them in the following manner : they plant two
ftakes in the ground about a yard and a half
afunder, and having ftretched a cord from the
one to the other, they faften their threads of bark
double to this cord, and then interweave them

‘in a curious manner intoa cloak of abouta yard

{quare with a wrought border round the edges.

The young boys and girls go quite naked;
but the girls at the age of eight or ten put on a
little petticoat, which is a kind of fringe made
of threads of mulberry bark. The boys donot
wear any covering till they are twelve or thir- |
teen years of age. ior

Some women even in hot weather have a
fmall cloak wrapt round like a waiftcoat; but
when the cold fets in, they wear a fecond, the
middle of which paffes under the right arm, and
the two ends are faftened over the left fhoulder,

fo

ig y Te to Re

fo that the two arms are at liberty, and one of
the breafts is covered. - They wear nothing on
their heads; their hair is fuffered to grow to its
full length, except in the fore-part, and it is
tied in a cue behind: in a kind of net made of —
mulberry threads. They carefully pick out all
the hairs that grow upon any part of their body.

4

The fhoes of the men and women are of the
fame fafhion, but they rarely wear any but when
they travel. They are made of deer-{kin,. the
fole and upper-leather of the fame piece, which
is fewed together on the upper part of the foot;
they are cut about three inches longer than the
foot, and are folded over the toes; the quarters
are about nine inches high, and faften round
the leg like a bufkin. The womens ear-rings are _
made of the center part of a large fhell, called
burgo, which is about the thicknefs of one’s
little finger, and there is a hole in the ear about
that fize for holding it. Their necklaces are
compofed of feveral ftrings of longith or roundifh
kernel-{tones, fomewhat refembling porcelaine ;
and with the fmalleft of thefe kernel-ftones they
ornament their furs, garters, &e,

From their early youth the women get a ftreak

pricked crofs their sara fome of them havea
ftreak

i

OF LOUWSLANA.. 233

ftreak pricked down the middle of their chin ;
others in different parts, efpecially the women
‘of the nations who have the & in their lan-
guage. I have feen fome who were pricked ail
over the upper part of the body, not even ex-
cepting the breafts which are extremely fen-

| fible:

In the cold weather the men cover them-
{elves with a fhirt made of two dreffed deer-
{kins, which is more like a fur night-gown than
a fhirt : they likewife, at the fame time, wear
a kind of breeches, which cover both the thighs
and the legs. If the weather be very fevere,

they throw over all a bufalo’s fkin, which is
dreffed with the wool on, and this they keep

next to their body to increafe the warmth. In

the countries where they hunt beavers, they
make robes of fix fkins of thofe animals fewed

together.

~ The youths here are as much taken up about
drefs, and as fond of vying with each other in
finery as in other countries » they paint them-
felyes with vermillion very often; they deck
themfelves with bracelets made of the ribs of
deer, which,are bent by the means of boiling
water, and when polifhed, look as fine as ivory 5
they

ot

234 PVE RS ow RY

they wear necklaces like the women, and forhe+

times have a fan in their hand ; they clip off the
hair from the crown of the head, and there
place a piece of fwan’s {kin with the down on;
to afew hairs that they leave on that part they
faften the fineft white feathers that they can
meet with ; a part of their hair which is fuffer-
ed to grow long, they weave into a cue, which
hangs over their left ear. be oh

They likewife have their nofe pricked, but
ho other part till they are warriors, and have
performed fome brave action, fuch as killing an

enemy, and bringing off his fealp. Thofe who -

have fignalized themfelves by fome gallant ex-
ploit, caufe a tomahawk to be pricked on their
left thoulder, underneath which is alfo pricked
the hieroglyphic fign of the conquered nation,
Whatever figure they intend to prick, is firft

traced on the fkin with a bit of charcoal, and

having fixed fix needles in a piece of wood in
two rows, in fuch a manner that they only flick
out about the tenth part of aa inch, they prick
the fkin all over the mark, and then rub char-
coal duft over the part, which enters the pune-
tures, and leaves a mark that can never be ef-
faced. This pricking generally gives a fit of
ficknefs to the patient, who is obliged for fome
time

}
i

O.Fs LOUISIANA. 235

time to live only on boiled maiz. The warriors
alfo pierce the lower part of their ears, and
make a hole an inch diameter, which they fill
with iron wire. Befides thefe ear-rings they
have a belt hung round with little bells, if they
can purchafe any from the French, fo that they

march more like mules than men. When they

can get no bells, they faften to their belts wild
gourds with two or three pebbles in each. The
chief ornament of the fovereigns is their crown
of feathers; this crown is compofed of a black
bonnet of net work, which is faftened toa red
diadem about two inches broad. The diadem,
is embroidered with white kernel-ftones, and
furmounted with white feathers, which in the
fore-part are about eight inches long, and half
as much behind. This crown or feather hat
makes a very pleafing appearance.

All nations are not equally ingenious at in-
venting feafts, fhews, and diverfions, for em-
ploying the people agreeably, and filling up the
void of their ufual employments. The natives
of Louifiana have invented but a very few di-
verfions, and thefe perhaps ferve their turn as
well as a greater variety would do. The war-
riors practife a diverfion which is called the
game of the pole, at which two only play toge-

ther

446 @MAEIBIS TO Rey

‘ther at atime. Each has a pole about eight

feet long, refembling a Roman f, and the game

confifts in rolling a flat round ftone, about three

inches diameter and an inch thick, with the

edge fomewhat floping, and throwing the pole ;
at the fame time in fuch a manner, that when

the ftone refts the pole may touch it or be near

it, Both antagonifts throw their poles at the
fame time, and he whofe pole is neareft the

ftone counts one, and has the right of rolling

the ftone. The men fatigue themfelves much

at this game, as they run after their poles at

every throw; and fome of them are fo bewitch-

ed by it that they game away one piece of fur-
niture after another. Thefe gamefters however

are very rare, and are greatly difcountenanced

by the reft of the people. _

The women play with fmall bits of cane,
about eight or nine inches long. ‘Three of
thefe they hold loofely in one hand, and knock.
them to the ground with another; if two of
them fall with the round fide undermoft, fhe that
played counts one; but if only one the counts
nothing. They are afhamed to be feen or
found playing, and as far as I could difcover
they never played for any flake.

The

OF LOUISIANA. 237

_ The young people, efpecially the girls, have
"hardly any kind of diverfion but that of the
_ ball: this confifts in tofling a ball from one to
the other with the palm of the hand, which
they perform with tolerable addrefs.

- When the natives meet with a Frenchman
hom they know, they fhake hands with him, in-
cline their head a little, and fay in their own
language, “ Are you there, my friend,” If he
has no ferious affair to propofe to them, or if
they themfelves have nothing of confequence to
fay, they purfue their journey.

If they happen to be going the fame way
with a Frenchman, they never go before him,
unle(s fomething of confequence oblige them.
When you enter into their hut, they welcome
you with the word of falutation, which figni-—
fies “Are you there, my friend ;” then fhake
hands with you, and pointing to a bed defire
you to fitdown. A filence of a few minutes
then enfues till the ftranger begins to fpeak,
when he is offered fome victuals, and defired to
eat. You muft tafte of what. they offer you,
otherwife they will imagine that you defpife
them. |

%

When

238 THE HISTOR ¥ |
. When the natives converfe together, how-
ever numerous the affembly be, never more |
than one perfon {peaks at once. If one of the |
company has any thing to fay to another, he
{peaks fo low that none of the reft hear him.
Nobody is interrupted, even with the chiding
of achild; andif the child be ftubborn, it is
removed elfewhere. In the council, when a
point is deliberated upon and debated, they _
keep filence for a fhort time, and then they
ipeak in their turns, no one offering to’ inter-
rupt another.

The natives being habituated to their own
prudent cuftom, it is with the utmoft difficulty

they can keep from Jaughing, when they fee
feveral French men or French women together,
and always feveral of them {peaking at the fame
time. I had obferved them for two years fti-
fling a laugh on thofe occafions, and had often
afked the reafon of it, without receiving any |
fatisfactory anfwer. At length I preffed one of
them fo earneftly to fatisfy me, that after fome
excufes, he told me in their language, “ Our
people fay, that when feveral French men are
together, they fpeak all at once; like a flock of
geefe.” | |

sho All

QF BbQOUris it AWN A”. _ 299

All the nations whom I have known, and
who inhabit from the fea as far as the J//inois,
and even farther, which is.a {pace of about
1500 miles, carefully cultivate the maiz corn,
which they make their principal fubfiftence.
They make bread of it baked in cakes, another
kind baked among the afhes, and another kind

in water; they make of it alfo cold meal, roafted

meal, gruel, which in this country is called Sa-
gamity. 'Thisand the cold mealin my opinion
are the two beft difhes that are made of it; the
others are only for achange. They eat the
Sagamity as we eat foup, with a fpoon made of
a bufalo’s horn. When they eat flefh or fifh
they ufe bread. They likewife ufe two kinds
of millet, which they fhell in the manner of |
rice; one of thefe is called Choupichaul, and the
ether Widlogouil, and they both grow almoft
without any ce anon.

In a fcarcity of thefe kinds of corn, they have
recourfe to -earth-nuts, which they find in the
woods ; but they never ufe thefe or chefauts but
when neceffity obliges them.

_ The flefh-meats they ufually eat are the bu-
falo, the deer, the bear, and the dog: they

| eat of all. kind of water-fowl and fith; but

they

240 THE+BIS £O Rty
they have no other way of dreffing their meat
but by roaftiag or boiling. The following is
: their manner of roafting their meat when they
are in the fields hunting: they plant a ftake in
the ground floping towards the fire, and on thé ©
point of this ftake they {pit their meat, which
they turn from time to time. To preferve
what they do not then ufe, they cut it into
thin pieces, which they dry, or rather half-roaft,
upon a grate made of canes placed crofs-ways,
They never eat raw flefh, as fo many people
have falfely imagined, and they limit themfelves
to no fet hours for their meals, but eat when-
ever they. are hungry; fo that we feldom fee:
feveral of them eating at once, unlefs at their
feafts, when they all eat off the fame plate,
except the women, the boys, and the young
girls, who have each a plate to themfelves, 9

. ae Eee
sae hah va Pe

When the natives are fick, they eat neither
fiefh nor fith, but take Sagamity boiled in’ the :
broth of meat.’ When a man falls’ fick, “his”
wife fleeps with the woman in the bed next to
him, and the hufband of that woman goes’
elfewhere. The natives, when they eat with
French men, tafte of nothing but of pure roaft
and boiled: they eat no falad, and nothing raw _
but fruit, Their’ drink is pure water or pure’

af | brandy,

Pik OF Dis LAIN A. 24%

brandy, but they diflike wine and all made
liguors.

_ Having mentioned their manner of feeding,
I fhall fay a word or two of their manner of
fafting. When they want rain, or when they
defire hot weather for ripening their corn, they
addrefs themfelves to the old man who has
the greateft character for living wifely, and they
intreat him to invoke the aerial fpirits, in order
to obtain what they demand. This old man,
who never refufes his countrymen’s requett,
prepares to faft for nine days together. He
orders his wife to withdraw, and during the
whole time he eats nothing but a difh of gruel
boiled in water, without falt, which is brought
him, once a day by his wife after fun-fet. They
never will accept of any reward for this fervice,
that the fpirits may not be angry with them.

Vou. I,

242 THE HISTORY

S$) EcCsoE.s cE.

_ Of the Indian art of war,

Will now prefent the reader with their man-

ner of making war, which is uniformly the
fame among all the nations. When onena- —
tion intends to make war upon another in all
the forms, they hold a council of war, which
is compofed of the oldeft and braveft warriors,
it is to be fuppofed that this nation has been
infulted, that the other has committed fome
hoftilities againft it, orthat they have difturbed ~
them in their hunting country, coming thither
to fteal their game, as they call it. There is al-
ways fome pretence for declaring war; and this
pretence, whether true or falfe, is explained
by the svar-chief, who omits no circumftance.
that may excite his nation to take up arms. ©

After he has. explained the reafons for the
war, the old men debate the queftion in pre-
fence of the great chief or fovereign of the na-
tion. This fovereign and the great chief of —
war are only witneffes of the debate; for the

opinion of the old men:always prevails, andthe —
me — twoum

OF LOUISIANA. 243
| two-chiefs voluntarily agree to it, from their
_-refpect and their great regard for the experience
and wifdom of thofe venerable counfellors.

If it is refolved to demand from the other na.
tion the reafon of the hoftilities committed by
them, they name one of their braveft and moft
eloquent warriors as a fecond to their {peech-
| maker‘or chancellor, who is to carry the pipe
of peace, and addrefs that nation. Thefe two
_ are accompanied by a troop of the braveft war--
‘riors, fo that the embalfy has the appearance
of a warlike expedition; and, if fatisfaCtion is
not given, fometimes ends in one. The am-
bafladors carry no prefents with them, to fhew
that they do not intend to fupplicate or beg a
peace: they take with them only the pipe of
peace, as a proof that they come as friends,
| The embaffy is always well received, enter+
tained in the beft manner, and kept as long as
| poffible; and if the other nation is not inclined
to begin a war, they make very large prefents
to the ambafladors, and. all their retinue, to
‘make up for the loffes which their nation com=:
“pinitisiof, $3 ne tisvol aote

If a nation begins actual hoftilities without
any formalities, the nation invaded is generally
Mec) al-

A> tte

ee Sa Seapets —eniennene cee itn

244. (THE? HIS TORY

affifted by feveral allies, keeps itfelf on the de- |

fenfive, gives orders to thofe who live at a great”
diftance to join the main body of the nation,
prepares logs for building a fort, and every
morning fends fome warriors out upon the fcout,

choofing for that purpofe thofe who truft more

to their heels than their heart,

The affiftance of the allies is generally folli-
cited by the pipe of peace, the ftalk of which is
about four feet and a half long, and is covered
all over with the fkin of a duck’s neck, the fea-
thers of which are gloffy and of various co-
lours. To this pipe is fattened a fan made of

the feathers of white eagles, the ends of which

are black, and are ornamented with a tuft dyed
a beautiful red. — |

When the allies are aflembled a general coun- —

cil is held in prefence of the fovereign, and is

compofed of the great war-chief, the war-chiefs

of the allies, and all the old warriors. The

great war-chief opens the affembly with a fpeech, —

in which he exhorts them to take vengeance

of the infults they have received; and after the
point is debated, and the war agreed upon, —

all the warriors goa hunting to procure game

for

s

i
|
lI

|

|

2

HME OWLS TAN A). one

for the war-feaft, which, as well as the war-

dance, lafts three days.

The natives diftinguifh the warriors into
three claffes, namely, true warriors, who have
always given proofs of their courage ; common
warriors, and apprentice-warriors. They like-
wife divide our military men into the two clafles
of true warriors and young warriors. By the
the former they mean the fettlers, of whom the
greateft part, upon their arrival, were foldiers,
who being now perfeétly acquainted with the
tricks and wiles of the natives, practife them
upon their enemy, whom they do not greatly

fear. The young warriors are the foldiers of

the regular troops, as the companies are gene-
rally compofed of young men, who are ignorant
of the ftratagems ufed by the natives in time of
war.

When the war feaft is ready the warriors re-
pair to it, painted from head to foot with {tripes
of different colours. They have nothing on
but their belt, from whence hangs their apron,
their bells, or their rattling gourds, and their
tomahawk. In their right hand they have a
bow, and thofe of the north in their left carry
M 3 ee.

246 TAHOE! CAT SiT:O RD
a. buckler formed of ‘two round pieces of bux
falo’s hide fewed together. —

The feaft is kept in a meadow, the grafs of
which is mowed toa great extent ; there the
difhes, which are of hollow wood, are placed
round in-circles of about twelve or fifteen feet”
diameter, and the number of thofe circular ta-
bles is proportioned to the largenefs of the af-
fembly, ‘in the midft of whom is placed the
pipe of war upon the end of a pole feven or
eight feet high. Atthe foot of this pole, in
the middle of a circle, is placed the chief dith
of all, which is a large dog roafted whole;
the other plates are ranged circularly by threes;
one of thefe contains maiz boiled in broth
like gruel, another roafted deer’s flefth, and the
other boiled. They all begin with eating of
the dog, to denote their fidelity and attachment
to their chief; but before they tafte of any
thing, an old warrior, who, on account of his
great age, is not able to accompany the reft to.
the war, makes an harangue to the warriors,
and by recounting his own exploits, excites,
them to act with bravery again{ft the enemy.
_ All the warriors then, according to their rank,
‘fmoke in the pipe of war, after which they be-
gin their repaft; but while they eat, they
3 keep

On D0 UNS HAND. buy.

keep walking continually, to fignify that a war-
-rior ought to be always in action and upon his
guard.

«

“While they are thus employed one of the
young men goes behind a bufh about 200 paces
off, and raifes the cry of death. Inftantly all
the warriors feize their arms, and run to the
place whence the cry comes; and when they
are near it the young warrior fhews himfelf
again, raifes the cry of death, and is anfwered
by all the ref{t, who then return to the feaft,
and take up the victuals which in their hurry
they had thrown upon the ground. The fame
alarm is given two other times, and the war-
iors each time act as at firft. The war drink
then goes round, which is a heady liquor drawn
from the leaves of the Caffine after they
have been a long while boiled. The feaft
being finifhed, they all affemble about fifty
paces from a large poft, which reprefents the
enemy ; and this each of them in his turn runs
up to, and ftrikes with his tomahawk, recount-
ing at the fame time all his former brave ex-
ploits, and fometimes boafting of valorous
deeds that he never performed. But they have
the complaifance to each other to pardon this
_ gafconading. ) pay |

. M 4 Nest

248 THE HISTORY
All of them having fucceffively ftruck the

» polt, they begin the dance of war with their

arms in their hands; and this dance and the
war-fealt are celebrated for three days together,
after which-they fet out for the war. The wo-
men fome time before are employed in preparing
victuals for their hufbands, and the old men in
engraving upon bark the hieroglyphic fign of
the nation that attacks, and of their number of
warriors. ,

=

Their manner of making war is to attack by
furprize; accordingly when they draw near to
any of the enemy’s villages, they march only in
the night; and that they may not be difcover-

ed, raife up the grafs over which they have

trod. One half the warriors watch, while the
other half fleep in the thickeft and moft unfre-
quented part of the wood.

If any of their fcouts can difcover a hut of
the enemy detached from the rett, they all fur-
round it about day-break, and fome of the war-

‘iors entering endeavour to knock the people
in the head as they awake, or take fome man
prifoner. Having {calped the dead, they carry
off the women and children prifoners, and place
againft a tree near the hut the hieroglyphic pic-
ture,

6# Gow rhs PAN‘A. “249
ture, before which they plant two arrows with
their points croffing each other. Inftantly they
retreat into the woods, and make great turnings
to conceal their route. .

The women and children whom they take
prifoners are made flaves, But if they take a
man prifoner the joyis univerfal, and the glory
of their nation is at its height. The warriors
when they draw near to their own villages after
an expedition, raife the cry of war three times fuc-
ceffively ; and if they have a man prifoner with
them, immediately ga and look for three poles
to torure him upon; which, however weary or
hungry they be, muft be provided before they
take any refrefhment. When they have pro-
vided thofe poles, and tied the prifoner to them,
they may then go and take fome victuals. The
poles are about ten feet long ; two of them are
planted upright in the ground at a proper di-
ftance, and the other is cut thro’ in the middle,
and the two pieces are faftened crofs-ways to
the other two, fo that they forma fquare about
five feet every way. The prifoner being firft
fealped by the perfon who took him, 1s tied to
this fquare, his hands to the upper part, and his
feet to the lower, in fuch a manner that he
forms the figure of a St. Andrew’s crofs. The
M 5. young

2.60 dL AOR SR SP eee
young men in the mean time having prepared
{everal bundles of canes, fet fire to them; and
feveral of the warriors taking thofe aaniine
canes, burn, the prifoner in different parts of his
body, while others burn him in other parts
with their tobacco-pipes. The patience of pri-
foners in thofe miferable cireumftances is al-
together aftonifhing. No cries or lamentations
proceed from them ; and fome have been knowa
to fuffer tortures, sath fing for three days and
nights without intermiffion. Sometimes it hap-
pens that a young woman who has loft her
hufband in the war, afks the prifoner to fup-
ply the room of the deceafed, and her requeftis
immediately granted.

I mentioned above that when one nation de-
clares war againft another, they leave a pic-
ture near one of their villages. ‘That picture
is defigned in the following manner. On the
top towards the right hand is the hieroglyphic
fign of the nation that declares war; next is a’
naked man with a tomahawk in his hand; and
then an arrow pointed againft a woman, who
is flying away, her hair floating behind her in
the air; immediately before this woman is the
proper emblem of the nation againft whom the
war is declared, All this is on one line; and
be-

GPE GUISIAN A” 25%

below js. drawn the figure of the moon, which
is followed by one [, or more ; and a man, is
here reprefented, before whom is a number of
arrows which feem to pierce a woman who is
running away. By this is denoted, when
fach a moon is fo many days old, they will
come in great numbers and attack fuch a na-
tion; but this lower part of the picture does
not always carry true intelligence. The nation
that has offered the infult, or commenced ho-
filities wrongfully, rarely finds any allies even
among thofe mations who call them brothers.

In carrying on a war they have no fuch thing
as pitched battles, or carrying on of fieges ; all
the mifchief they do each other, is by furprife
and fkirmifhing, and in this their courage and
addrefs confifts. Among them flight is no
ways fhameful; their bravery lies often in their
legs ; and to kill a man afleep or at unawares,
is quite as honourable among them as to gain
a fignal victory after a {tout battle.

_ When a nation is too weak to defend itfelf
in the field, they endeavour to protect them--
felves by a fort. .This fort is built circularly
of two rows of large logs of wood, the logs of
the inner row being oppofite ‘to the joining of

292 THE HISTORY

the logs of the outer row. Thefe logs are
about fifteen feet long, five feet of which are
funk in the ground. The outer logs are about
two feet thick, and the inner about half as
much, At every forty paces along the wall a
circular tower jets out ; and at the entrance of
the fort, which is always next to the river, the
two ends of the wall pafs beyond each other,
and leave a fide opening. In the middle of the
fort ftands a treee with its branches lopt off
within fix or eight inches of the trunk, and
this ferves for a watch tower. Round this tree
are fome huts, for the protection of the women
and children from random arrows; but not-
withftanding all thefe precautions oe defence, if
the befieged are but hindered from coming out

to water, they are foon obliged to furrender.

When a nation finds itfelf no longer able to
oppofe its enemy, the chiefs fend a pipe of peace
to a neutral nation, and follicit their mediation,
which is generally fuccefsful, the vanquifhed
nation fheltering themfelves under the name of
the mediators, and for the future making but
one nation with them.

Here it may be obferved that when they go

to attack others, it fometimes happens that
they

@ F LiO2U KS BAINTAY. 3233
they lofe fomé of their own warriors. In that
cafe, they immediately, if poffible, fcalp their
dead friends, to hinder the enemy from having
that fubject of triumph. Moreover when they
return home, whether as victors or other wife,
the great war-chief pays to the refpective fami-
lies for thofe whom he does not bring back
with him; which renders the chiefs very careful
of the lives of their warriors.

‘

Neer ila

Gi bik: Puky.)
Of the negroes of Louifiana.

Ci) Dee ots DEE ERLE
Of the choice of negroes, of their difiem-

pers, and the manner of curing them.

WAVING finifhed my account of the na-
tives of Lowifiana, I thall conclude this
treatife with fome obfervations relating to the
negroes, who, in the lower part of the pro-
‘ vince efpecially perform all the labours of agri-
culture. On that account Ijhave thought pro-
per to give fome inftructions concerning them,
for the benefit of thofe who are inclined to fettle
in that province.
| The

avg J FHE HIS TOR-Y

The negroes. muft_be governed differently
from the Europeans ; not becaufe they are black,
hor becaufe they are flaves; but becaufe they —
think differently from the white men.

Firft, they imbibe a prejudice from, their in-
fancy, that the white men buy. them for no
other purpofe but to drink their blood ; which
is Owing to this, that when the firft negroes
faw the Europeans drink claret, they imagined
it was blood, as that wine is of a deep red co-
Jour ; fo that nothing but the actual experience
of the contrary can eradicate the falfe opinion.
But as none of thofe flaves who have had that
experience ever return to their own country,
the fame prejudice continues to fubfift on the
coaft of Guiney where we purchafe them. Some
who are ftrangers to the manner of thinking that
prevails among the negroes, may, perhaps think
that the above remark is of no confequence, in
refpect to thofe flaves who are already fold to
the French. There have been inftances however
of bad confequences flowing from this preju-
dice; efpecially if the negroes found no old
flave of théir own country upon their firft ar-
rival in our colonies. Some of them have killed
or drowned themfelves, feveral of them haye
deferted (which they call making themfelves
| Ma-

toe

OF LOUISIANA. 25g

~ Marons) and all this from an apprehenfion that

the white men were going to drink their blood.

When they defert they believe they can get’
back to their own country by going round the

fea, and may live in the woods upon the fruits,
which they imagine are as common every where.
as with them.

They are very fuperftitious, and are much
attached to their prejudices, and little toys which
they call gris, gris. It would be improper
therefore to take them from them, or even [peak
of them to them; for they would believe them-
{elves undone, if they were ftripped of thofe
trinkets, The old negroes foon make them
lofe conceit of them. ee

a

The firft thing you ought todo when you
purchafe negroes, is to caufe them to be exa-
mined by a fkilful furgeon and an honeft man,
to difcover if they have the venereal or any
other diftemper. When they are viewed, both
men and ‘women are ftripped naked as the hand,
and are carefully examined from the crown of
the head to the fole of the feet, then between
the toes and between the fingers, in the mouth,
in the ears, not excepting even the parts na-
turally concealed, tho’ then expofed to view.

| You

256 TG BTS TOR ¥

You muft afk your examining furgeon if he is
acquainted with the diftemper of the yaws,
which is the virus of Guiney, and incurable by
a great many French furgeons, tho’ very fkilful
in the management of European difempers. Be
careful not to be deceived in this point; for
your furgeon may be deceived himfelf; there-
fore attend at the examination yourfelf, and
obferve carefully over all the body of the ne-
gro, whether you can difcover any parts of the
fkin, which tho’ black like the reft, are how-
ever as {mooth as a looking-glafs, without any
tumor or rifing. Such {pots may be eafily dif-
covered ; for the fkin of a perfon who goes na-
ked is ufually all over wrinkles. Wherefore
if you fee fuch marks you muft reject the ne-
gro, whether man or woman. There are al-
Ways experienced furgeons at the fale of new
negroes, who purchafe them; and many of
thofe furgeons have made fortunes by that
means; but they generally keep their fecret to
themfelves.

Another mortal diftemper with which many
negroes from Guiney are attacked is the fcurvy:
It difcovers itfelf by the gums, but fometimes
itis fo inveterate as to appear outwardly, in
which cafe it is generally fatal, If any of my

: read-

ee, OU. Vis TIA NAY 267

readers fhall have the misfortune to have a
negro attacked with one of thofe diftempers, I
will now teach him how to fave him, by put-
ting him in a way of being radically cured by
the furgeons; for I have no inclination to fall

out with thofe gentlemen.

I learned this fe-

cret from a negro phyfician, who was upon the
king’s plantation, when I took the fuperinten-

dance of it.

You muft never put an iron inftrument into
the yaw ; fuch an application would be certain
death. Inorder to open the yaw, you take iron
ruft reduced to an impalpable powder, and

_paffed thro’ a fine fearch ; you afterwards mix
‘that powder with citron juice till it be of the
confiftence of an ointment, which you fpread
upon a linen cloth greafed with hogs greafe, or —
fret: lard without falt, for want of a better.
You lay the plaifter upon the yaw, and renew
it evening and morning, which will open the
yaw in a very fhort time without any incifion.

"The opening being once made, you take
about the bulk of a goofe’s egg of hog’s lard »
‘without falt, in which you incorporate about
“an ounce of. good terebinthine ; after which

take a quantity of powdered verdigris, and foak

it

25S) ATE @ A Sp O'R oY

it half a day in good vinegar, which you muft
then pour off gently with all the fcum that floats
at the top. Drop a cloth all over with the
verdigris that remains, and upon that apply
your aft ointment. Ail thefe operations are
performed without the affiftance of fire. The
whole ointment being well mixed with a fpa-
tula, you drefs the yaw with it; after that put
your negro into a copious {fweat, and he will be
cured. ‘Take fpecial care that your furgeon
ufes no mercurial medicine, as Ihave feen ;
for that will occafion the death of the pa-
tient.

The feurvy is no lefs to be dreaded than
the yaws; neverthelefs you may get the better
of it, by adhering exactly to the following pre-
{cription: take fome fcurvy-grafs, if you have any
plants of it, fome ground-ivy, called by fome
St. Fohn’s wort, fome water-ereffes from a
{pring or brook, and for want of that, wild
creffes ; take thefe three herbs, or the two laf,
if you have no {curvy-grafs; pound them, and mix
them with citron-juice, to make of them a foft
pafte, which the patient muft keep upon both
his gums till they be clean, at all times but.
when he is eating. In the mean while he muft

be fuffered to drink nothing but an infufion of -
ae aie:

OE LOULSLANA. 259

the herbs above named. You pound two hand-
fuls of them, roots and all, after wafhing off
any earth that may be upon the roots or leaves 3.

- to thefe you join a frefh citron, cut into flices.

Having pounded all together, you then fkeep
them in an earthen pan ina pint of pure water
of the meafure of Paris ; after that you add
about the fize of a walnut of powdered and
purified falt-petre, and, to make it a little re-
lifhing to the negro, you add fome powder fu-
gar. After the water has ftood one night, you
{queeze out the’ herbs pretty ftrongly. The
whole is performed cold, or without fire. Such
is the dofe for a bottle of water Paris mea-
fare; but as the patient ought to drink two
pints a day, you may make feveral pints at a
time in the above proportion.

In thefe two diftempers the patients muft be
fupported with good nourifhment, and made to.
fweat copioufly. It would be a miftake’ ‘to.
think-that they ought to be kept to a {pare
diet ; you mufi give them nourifhing food, but
Kittle ata time. A negro can no more than
any other perfon fupport remedies upon bad
food, and ftill lefs upon a fpare diet; but the
quantity muft be proportioned to the flate of
the patient, and the nature of the diftemper..
Be-

566. “TAR Mts Pho Ry

Befides, good food makes the beft part of the
remedy to thofe who in common are but poorly
fed. The negro who taught me thefe two
remedies, obferving the great care I took of
both the negro men and negro women, taught
me likewife the cure of all the diftempers to
which the women are fubjet; for the negro
women are as liable to difeafes as the white
women,

S BL Toor:

_Of the manner of governing the negroes.

r HEN a negro man or woman comes
home to you, itis proper to carefs
them, to give them fomething good to eat,
with a glafs of brandy; it is beft to drefs them
the fame day, to give them fomething to fleep
on, anda covering. I fuppofe the others have
been treated in the fame manner; for thofe
marks of humanity flatter them, and attach
them to their mafters. If they are fatigued
or weakened by a journey, or by any diftem-
pers, make them work little; but keep them
always bufy as long as they are able to do any
thing, never fuffering them to be idle, but
when they are at their meals.+ Take care of
them

BE i LAN (A, eG

them when they are fick, and give attention
both to. their remedies and their food, which
laft ought then to be more nourifhing than what
they ufually fubfift upon. It is your intereft
fo to do, both for their prefervation, and to at-
tach them more clofely to you; for tho’ many
French men fay that negroes are ungrateful,
I have experienced that it is very eafy to render
them much attached to. you by good treatment,
and by doing them juftice, as I fhall mention
afterwards.

If a negro woman lies in, caufe her to be
taken care of in every thing that her condition

_ makes neceflary, and let your wife, if you have

one, not difdain to take the immediate care of
her herfelf, or at leaft have an eye over her.

A Chriftian ought to take care that the chil-
dren be baptifed and inftru€ted, fince they have
an immortal foul. The mother ought then to
receive half a ration more than ufual, and a
quart of milk a day, to affift her to nurfe her
child,

Prudence requires that your negroes be lodged

at a proper diltance, to prevent them from being

trou-

262 Woe LoS LOetias
troublefome or offenfive ; but at the fame time
near enough for your ae obferving
what pafles among them. When I fay that
they ought not to be placed fo near your ha-
bitation as to be offenfive, I mean by that the
{mell which is natural to fome nations of ne-
groes, fuch as the Congos, the Angolas, the
Aradas, and others. - On this account it is pro-
per to have in their camp a bathing place formed
by thick planks, buried in the earth about
afoot or a foot anda half at moft, and never
more water in it than about that depth, for
fear left the children fhould drown themfelves

in it; it ought likewife to have an edge, that >

the Helle children may not have accefs to it, and

there ought to be a pond without the camp to -

fupply it with water and keep fifth. ‘The ne-
gro camp ought to be inclofed all round with
palifades, and to have a door to fhut with a
lock and key. The huts ought to be detached
from each other, for fear of fire, and to be
built in direct lines, both for the fake of neat-
nefs, and in order to know eafily the hut of each
negro. But that you may beas little incom-
moded as poffible with their natural fmell, you
muft have the precaution to place the negro
camp to the north or north-eaft of your houfe,
-~as the winds that blow from thefe quarters are
not

i parabens ng Skee re

OMe G OU LS MAINA, “96g

not fo warm as the others, and it is only when
the nesroes are warm that they fend forth a dif-
agreeable {mell.

The negroes that have the worft fmell are
thofe that are the leaft black; and what I
have faid of their bad fmell, ought to warn
you to keep always on the windward fide of
them when you vifit them at their work; never
to fuffer them to come near your children, who,
exclufive of the bad fmell, can learn nothing
good from them, either as to morals, educa-
tion, or language.

From what I have faid, I conclude that a
French father and his wife are great enemies to
their pofterity when they give their children
fach nurfes. For the milk being the pureft
blood of the woman, one muft be a ftep-mo-
ther indeed to give her child toa negro nurfe
in fuch a country as Louifiana, where the mo-
ther has all conveniencies of being ferved,
of accommodating and carrying their children,
who by that means may be always under their
_eyes. The mother then has nothing elfe to
do but to give the breaft to her child.

I have

264 THE HISTORY

I have no inclination to employ my pen in
cenfuring the over-delicacy and felfithnefs of
the women, who thus facrifice their children ;
it may, wichout further illuftration, be eafily
perceived how much fociety is interefted in this
affair. I fhall oniy fay, that for any kind of
fervice whatever about the houfe, I would ad-
vife no other kind of negroes, either young or
old, but Senegals, called among themfelves
Diolaufs, becaufe of all the negroes I have

known, thefe have the pureft blood ; they have |

more fidelity and a better underftanding than
the reft, and are confequently fitter for learning
a trade, or for menial fervices. It is true they
are not fo ftrong as the others for the la-
bours of the field, and for bearing the great
heats. :

The Senegals however are the blackeft, and
I never faw any who had a bad fmell. They
are very grateful; and when one knows how to
attach them to him, they have been found to fa-
crifice their own life to fave that of their maf-
ter. They are good commanders over other
negroes, both on account of their fidelity and
gratitude, and becaufe they feem to be born
for commanding. As they are high-minded,

they may be eafily encouraged to learn a trade,
wis or

‘ s *
Sgt nS”

Oey oF gipanic acl oe a it

Ki

*

2

ae ss BR. ;

OF LOUISIANA. (26s

or to ferve in the houfe, by the diftinction they
will thereby acquire over other negroes, and
the neatnefs of drefs which that condition will
enti, them to.

‘When a fettler wants to make a fortune,
and manage his plantation with oeconomy, he
ought to prefer his intereft to his pleafure, and
only take the laft by fnatches. He ought to
‘be the firft up and the laft a-bed, that he may
have an eye over every thing that paffes in his
plantation. It is certainly his intereft that his
negroes labour a good deal; but it ought to be
an equal and moderate labour, for violent and
‘continual labours would foon exhauft and ruin
them; whereas by keeping them always mo-
derately employed, they neither exhauft their
{trength nor ruin their conftitution. By this
they are kept in good health, and labour longer,
and with more good will: befides, it muft be
allowed that the day is long enough for an af-
‘fiduous labourer to deferve the repofe of the
“evening. ii cs |

To accuftom them to labour‘in this manner
I obferved the following method: I took care
to provide one piece of work for them before —
another was done, and I informed their com-

Vou. If. N mander

266 .ATSRLE wiga wb) R-w

mander or driver in’ their prefence, that they
might not lofe time, fome in coming to afk

what they were to:do, and others in waiting

for an anfwer. Befides I went. fevera. times

a day to view them, by roads which they did

not expect, pretending to be going a hunting

er coming from it. If I obferved them idle,

I reprimanded’ them, and if when they faw me

coming they wrought too hard, I told them

that they fatigued themfelves, and that’ they

could not.continue at fuch hard labour during
_ the whole day without being haraffed, which I 3
did not want.

‘When I furprifed them finging at their work,
and perceived that they had difcovered me,
I {aid to them chearfully, Courage, my boys, I
love to fee you merry at your work; but do
not fing fo loud, that you may not fatigue
yourfelves, and at night you fhall have a cup of
Jafia (or rum) to give you ftrength and fpi-
‘gits. One cannot believe the effect fuch a dif-
courfe would have upon their fpirits, which
was eafily difcernable from the chearfulnefs
upon their countenances, and their ardour at

work.

Ee aaa Sn Te

®

K

|
|

OF LOUISIANA.

267°

Tf it be neceffiry not to pafs over any effen="
tial fault in the negroes, it is no lefs neceflary
never to punifh them but when they have de-
ferved it, after a feriotis enquiry and exami--

nation fapported by an abfolute certainty, un-
lefs you happen to catch them in the facts
But when you are fully convinced of the crime,

~

by no ‘means: pardon them ‘upon any affurarices |
of proteftations oft theirs, or upon the follici-.

tations of others; but punifh them in’ propor-
‘tion to the fault they have done, yet always

-punithment they have received. | A Chriftian is

with) humanity, that they may themfelves be:
brought to confefs that they have deferved the”

“unworthy of that’ name when he punifhes with:
etnies as is ‘done’ to my knowledge’ in a com)

tain colony, ‘to fuch'a degree that they enter

-

tain’ their guefts with fuch fpectacles, which -

have’ more of barbarity than humanity 3

them. When: a negro comes from dt
whipped caufe the fore parts to be wafhed with

vinegar’ mixed with falt, famaica pepper, which
grows in the gardens, aa even a hpi gun-
powder. pat 6

As we know from experience that moft men

of a low extraction,’ and without education, -

are fubje&t to thieving in their neceffities, it is”

N 2 not

268 PH E Te SrhHOrR YS

not at all furprifing to fee negroes thieves,

when they are in want of every thing, as I
have feen many badly fed, badly cloathed, and.

having nothing to lie upon but the ground, I
fhall make but one reflection, If they are
flaves, it is alfo true that they are men, and
capable of becoming Chriffians : befides, it is
your intention to draw advantage from.them,

is it not therefore reafonable to take all thercare .

of them that you can? We fee all thofe who

underftand the government of horfes give an,

extraordinary attention to them, whether they

be intended for the faddle or the draught. In)
the cold feafon they are well covered and kept.
im warm ftables. In the fummer they havea
cloth thrown over them, to keep them from the ‘
duft, and at all times good litter to lie upon. -
Every morning their dung -is.carried.away,; and -

they are well curried and combed. If. you afk

thofe mafters, why they beftow fo much pains.

upon beafts? they will tell you, that,.to make
a horfe ferviceable. to ‘you, you, muft take a
good deal of care of him, and that itis for
the intereft of the perfon to whom a-horfe
belongs, fo to do. After this example, can

one hope for labour from negroes, who very

oftenare in want of neceffaries? Can one expect

fidelity from a man, who is denied what he
; {lands

saan eats

*, * 2 = -

E tee ~ —s
api get gin npg iO nae ea

Ste

ftands moft in need of ? When one fees ane-
ero, who labours hard and with much affi-
duity, it is common to fay to him, by way of
encouragement, that they are well pleafed with
him, and that he is a good negro. But when
any of them, who underftand our language,
are fo complimented, they very properly reply,
Maffer, when negre be much fed, negre work
much; when negre has good mafer, negre be
good.

If I advife the planters to take great care of
their negroes, I at the fame time fhew them
that their intereft is connected in that with their

humanity. But Ido no lefs advife them al-

ways to diftruft them, without feeming to fear
them, becaufe it is as dangerous to fhew a

concealed enemy that you fear him, as to do

him an injury.

Therefore make it your conftant cuftom to

fhut your doors fecurely, and not to fuffer
any negro to fleep in the houfe with you, and
have it in their power to open-your door. Vi-
fit your negroes from time to time, at night
and on days and hours when they leaft expect

you, in order to keep them always in fear of

being

OF LOUISIANA. 269

oo «©THE HISTORY

being found -abfent from their huts. Endea-

vour to affign each of them a wife, to keep

clear of debauchery and its: bad confequences.
It is neceffary that the negroes have wives, and
you ought to know that nothing attaches them
fo much to a plantation as children. But above
all do not fuffer any of them to abandon his
wife, when he has once made choice of one in
your prefence. Prohibit all fighting under pain
of the. lath, otherwife the women will often
ct raife ca among the men.

ate

26 not fale your negroes to carry their? 9.04

children to’ the field with them, when theys" |} 244
begin to walk, as they only fpoil the: plants:
and takeoff the mothers from their work.» If
you have a few negro children it is better to:

employ an old negro woman to keep themin

the camp, with whom the mothers may leave.

fomething for their children to eat. This

_ you will find to be the moft profitable way.

Above all do not fuffer the mothers ever to car-
ry them to the edge of the water, where there
is too much to be feared.

For the better fubfiftence of your. negroes,

you ought every week to give them a {mall

quan-

ore a

. .
- . Pet Shy tim -
i i Oli Seok sr BES MIS alte ae Be

+ t = >
EET AED Ep RE gg

[SOF LOUIS TAN A © 27
“quantity of falt and of the herbs of your gar-
den, to give a better relifh to their Cou/cou,

which is a difh made of the meal of rice or
maiz foaked in broth. .

If you have any old negro, or one in weak
health, employ him in fifhing both for your-
felf and your negroes. His labour will be well
worth his fubfiftence.

It is moreover for your own intereft to give
your negroes a {mall piece of wafte ground to
improve at the end of your own, and to en-

gage them to cultivate it for their own profit,
that they may be able to drefs a little better,
by felling the produce of it, which you ought
to buy from them upon fair and juft terms.
| It were better that they fhould employ them-
(elves in cultivating that field on Sundays, when
they are not Chriffians, than do worfe. In a
| word nothing is more to be dreaded than to fee
| the negroes affemble together on Sundays, fince,
under pretence ot Calinda or the dance, they
fometimes get together to the number of three
or four hundred, and make a kind of Sabbath,
which it is always prudent to avoid; for it is
‘n thofe tumultuous meetings, that they fell
what they have ftolen to one another, and com-
5 ; mit

O92. § HE HIS TOR Y, (Beg he ei
‘mit many crimes. In thefe likewife they plot
‘their rebellions. ; ,

_ To conclude, one may,, by attention and hu-
; manity, eafily manage negroes; and, as an
inducement, one has the fatisfaction to draw
“great advantage from their labours. |